Can you believe we’re leaving October behind this week?
Autumn is in full swing, spooky season is here, with the big day itself finally arriving on Thursday, and schools across the region are out for half term to celebrate, so of course there’s absolutely no shortage of things for the whole family to be getting up to across Greater Manchester all throughout this week.
Think immersive horror experiences, Halloween trails, spooky cinemas, ghost train rides, firework displays, and so much more.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide, so here’s some of our recommendations.
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MCR Monsters
Manchester City Centre
Monday 28 – Thursday 31 October
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MCR Monsters / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
The MCR Monsters are back once again, and you’ve only got a few days to get yourselves out there to find them all.
Part of the annual wider ‘Halloween in the City’ events lineup, just as they have been doing for the past few years now, giant inflatable monsters will be looming and creeping over buildings across the city centre this week to transform some of our most well-known landmarks with tentacles and googly eyes and pointy teeth for a free trail.
There’s dozens of monsters to spot around town this year, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you.
Pumpkin Lanterns / Credit: CityCo / Manchester BID
There couldn’t be a more ideal time to catch a glimpse of the pumpkins.
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If you’re looking to get in the mood for Halloween, but want to keep things a little on the cheaper side this week, then you need look no further than up above in the city centre as the annual decorative pumpkin lanterns are back once again.
Going on a little tour to see the lanterns in the trees in St Ann’s Square, Market Street, and beyond is the perfect activity for all the family, easy to plan, and great for pictures – and it’s free too.
Chester Zoo’s Halloween Festival / Credit: Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has been transformed into a ‘super-natural spectacle’ for the spooky season, and there’s loads of exciting events planned now that Halloween is here this week.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo has been getting into the scary spirit throughout October, with a trail of giant animals made out of pumpkins, and a fully animated 360-degree ‘mythical experience’ among the highlights at the huge new Halloween festival.
Visitors get to come face-to-face with giant animal sculptures made with pumpkins, all before encountering untamed creatures at the new BEASTS experience – which is the first of its kind in the UK.
Scare City is back for the fifth year running with its “most immersive” horror experience to date.
Taking over the grounds of the abandoned Camelot Theme Park for “another year of terror”, just as it has done for the past three years following the success of its initial 2020 launch as a drive-in cinema, this year’s event features a selection of terrifying zones to weave your way through – some familiar, some brand new.
A brand-new Halloween trail is leading people through an enchanted and haunted woodland this autumn.
Taking place at the Trafford Centre’s little-known Wilderspool Woods, the 4.5 acre hidden woodland in the grounds of the iconic shopping centre has been taken over by skeletons, bats, and all sorts of other spooky creatures.
More than 100,000 lights illuminate a Skeleton Village, and there’s laser-filled gardens of mist, a spooky soundtrack of otherworldly tunes curated by DJ Rasp, and supernatural surprises around every corner – whether it’s colourful bats soaring overhead, or glowing LED eyes watching down from the treetops.
That’s because a brand-new immersive scare experience presented by Manchester Scare Factory, called ‘Time To Die’, has landed right here in the city centre down at Diecast, and it’s said to be elevating horror to a whole new level.
Created by the group of innovative professionals behind the award-winning Newsham Park in Liverpool, and the infamous Area51group, this horrifying masterpiece has than enough to send shivers down your spine.
The Big Manchester Bake / Credit: Big Bakes | Brydn Webb
The Big Manchester Bake has landed, and believe us when we tell you it’s one of the best ways to spend an evening in the city.
Baking enthusiasts and novices alike can indulge in the enjoyment of the Big Bakes experience, with step-by-step instructions allowing you to bake your way through the 90-minute timed task and be crowned ‘star baker’ (or…not).
Halloween Ghost Trains / Credit: East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway’s popular Halloween Ghost Trains are back for one last ride this Thursday.
Always proving to be top of the Halloween bucket list for people looking for “loads of spooktacular fun” once the scariest time of year rolls around, those brave enough at lending the ‘Monster Squad’ a helping hand at banishing ghosts and ghouls will be whisked away on a haunted steam engine through the atmospheric Greater Manchester countryside.
You’ll get to meet lots of “oddballs and curios” along the way, including Count Brian the vampire, Veronica the witch, Zombie Bob, and the mad Dr Frankenburger as you board the rain ride of a lifetime.
Want to immerse yourself in spooky season with a touch of sophistication? Well, one of the city’s newest venues has got you covered.
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Giving film fans the chance to enjoy something a little different this Halloween, an alternative immersive cinema experience called Silent-ology will be taking over Arch 19 – which is part of the Found neighbourhood, nestled in Red Bank – and embracing the spooky spirit with a showing of Nosferatu.
The iconic horror film will be screened in the soft glow of candlelight, with a soul-stirring soundtrack played by a live string quartet to add to the atmosphere.
This is your chance to dress in your sexiest Halloween outfit and prepare to find love… or simply enjoy watching others try.
Following the amazing turnout at the last Take Me Out-style event hosted, Take Me to Hell and Back will take over Bierkeller down at the Printwork on Halloween night itself this Thursday, and will feature plenty of attempts at trying to reach the Isle of Fernando’s.
There’ll also be lots of cheap drink deals, a live band, DJs playing everything from DnB to house, and so much more.
The skies above Manchester city centre will be sparkling when a huge Bonfire Night event takes over the city’s newest park this weekend.
All happening at over at Mayfield Park, and organised by Freight Island and the acclaimed Manchester events company Walk the Plank, Fireworks Extravaganza is set to take place over several evenings, with 10-minutes of fireworks, free sparklers for the kids, and food traders serving mulled wine, hot chocolate, and candy floss.
On Friday and Sunday, the displays themselves will take place at 6:30pm, but on Saturday night, there’ll also be an extra-late slot with a display at 8:30pm too.
Brickhouse Social is making every Saturday feel like a ‘throwback Thursday’ this autumn.
At the 2000s Brunch, running right through to the last Saturday of November, you can enjoy unlimited pizza, funky cocktails, and back-to-back noughties anthems up on Manchester’s best-kept secret roof terrace.
Drinks will be flowing, as guests are treated to unlimited bottled beers, bottomless fizz, and even bottomless select cocktails.
Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac is hosting a club night in Manchester this weekend, and it’ll all be wrapped up by midnight.
Following the success of her big outdoor shows this past summer, the Dublin-born DJ, broadcaster, and writer is bringing her Before Midnight clubbing concept back for more, and she’s taking to Manchester city centre’s famous Albert Hall stage on Saturday, making it one of the most inclusive clubbing experiences there is.
Featured Image – Chester Zoo | CityCo & Manchester BID | Freight Island
Boroughs
‘I will fight for a better life for all’ – Bev Craig’s speech in full as she’s named the new Mayor of Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Labour candidate Bev Craig has been named the new Mayor of Greater Manchester.
As the polls closed across the region on yesterday’s (30 July 2026) mayoral by-election, it has been announced that Bev Craig is the new Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Craig won with a combined total of more than 300,000 votes, taking into account first and second preferences, beating out Reform UK’s candidate, Sian Astley, who came in second places with just over 157,000 votes.
The final result didn’t come in until close to 11pm last night, but in the end, Craig’s win was described as being a ‘decisive’.
The new Mayor of Greater Manchester has been elected! Bev Craig will take up the role from Monday.
A full table of votes from the 10 districts and the Greater Manchester result will be available on the GM Elects website#GMElectspic.twitter.com/fERMwv7pyT
— Greater Manchester Combined Authority (@greatermcr) July 31, 2026
The new Mayor has been elected after Andy Burnham was required to stand down from the role following his victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election last month, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231.
The role of Greater Manchester Mayor also holds Police and Crime Commissioner powers, so as an elected MP, Burnham was disqualified from holding the office of Mayor.
Of course, since that Makerfield by-election win, you might recall that Andy Burnham has then gone onto become Leader of the Labour Party, and therefore, Prime Minister, so it would probably have been tricky for him to balance two major roles at the same time anyway, even if he could.
Craig’s election to Mayor also means that she will no longer serve as the Leader of Manchester City Council – with further updates to be provided on that in due course.
Bev Craig’s first speech as Mayor of Greater Manchester in full
“I never believed as a girl growing up in a council estate that one day I would have the chance to stand for the place that I love, the place in this world that I’m proud to call home, and to offer my service to make our city region better.”
“Because Greater Manchester is special.
“We talk a lot about our history. We talk about the role that we’ve played from the birth of the Industrial Revolution to the trade union movement and Peterloo. From the suffragettes through to modern inventions and splitting the atom and the invention of the modern computer. We’ve changed the world in many ways in the past, but Greater Manchester’s potential lies in its future.
“And when Westminster walked away from us, when we were struggling as a deindustrialized city region, it was the people in this place that began the journey to rebuild.
“People often ask me, what is it that I feel makes Greater Manchester so special? And it’s our people and our communities. And during this campaign, I’ve got to see that firsthand in every single corner of this city region.
“In every pride, village, town, and both our cities, I find fantastic people doing incredible things against the odds every single day. Rejecting the politics of hate, but standing with their neighbours, looking out for each other. The spirit of a place that their neighbours will give their final pound in their pocket to help their struggling friend do the right thing.
“But for too many people across our region, life is simply too hard. The generational belief that we had that if you work hard and you did the right thing, then your life would be better, and the life of your kids would be better, is something that many people just don’t feel at the minute.”
“And that is the challenge that we in politics have to face up to. And it’s why I set myself a simple test, and I make that commitment to you today, that every single decision I take as your mayor of Greater Manchester will pass the test of making your life better.
“It will put more money in your pocket, and that was one of the reasons that my first pledge was around free buses for eleven to eighteen year olds to put five hundred quid in the pockets of families and give a message to our young people that they could be anything they wanted to be and go anywhere they wanted to go.
“That everyone in our city region deserves a good quality home that they can afford in a safe neighbourhood, and that everyone has to feel the benefits and successes of growth. You have to feel it in your pocket with good jobs in every corner of our city region, and you’ve got to see it on your high streets and when you walk out your front door, restoring pride into our, our high streets and town centres.
“But it can’t just be about building the basic fundamentals of a good life. It’s creating a good life. It’s letting people make those decisions where they plan with optimism and hope for the future. Things like spending time with friends and family with enough money in your pocket to do it, to plan for your holidays, to plan for your trips, to be able to think of the life you’re creating for your kids.
“And that’s what we can do here in Greater Manchester. And the final thing I’ll say is that this is about the city region that we want to be. This is the Greater Manchester that we can be. And that has to come with the belief that we can build things that make life better.
“And I’ll say this really plainly. To those that voted for me, thank you. To the Labour support that’s in doubt, thank you. To those of you that lent me your vote, thank you. And for those of you that didn’t vote for me, I will still be your mayor because I will defend this city region with every bone in my body, and I will fight for a better life for all of us.
“So the hard work begins. I’ve done this with a promise and a plan, and my promise and commitment to you is that I will make this city region better, but I will work for everyone. I will be a greater mayor for everyone. And we have to heal.
“We have to move away from divisive politics that try and pit neighbour against neighbour, and we’ll work together.
“We’ll do it together, we’ll deliver it together, and we will build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, that we’re all proud of, where everyone feels welcome and everyone has a chance to succeed. Thank you.”
Featured Image – GMCA
Boroughs
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 3 – 9 August 2026
Emily Sergeant
August is here, and what a busy month we have in store.
Summer is properly here and the school holidays are well underway now, so that means there’s loads of things happening across Greater Manchester these next few weeks. If you’re finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though, no worries, as we’ve chosen a few of the highlights for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide.
Both free things and those that’ll set you back a few pennies are featured.
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Afterglow 2026
Chester Zoo
Monday 3 – Sunday 16 August
Afterglow 2026 / Credit: Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is keeping its gates open late into the evening across two special weeks this summer.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo has announced the return of Afterglow, which is known and loved for offering visitors the rare opportunity to explore the zoo and its 30,000 animals after hours.
Unlike previous years, visitors will no longer need to leave Chester Zoo’s grounds and return with a separate event ticket. Instead, guests can spend the entire day exploring the zoo before enjoying Afterglow‘s evening programme, all as part of a standard admission ticket.
Manchester is bringing 14 weeks of free activities for children to parks across the city this summer.
Thanks to additional Council funding that was allocated earlier this year, Manchester’s biggest-ever Parktastic programme has now launched – expanding from the summer holidays alone to include after-school sessions before schools break up, activities throughout the holidays, and even sessions continuing into September.
Back by popular demand and aimed at children ages six-12, Parktastic offers sports, games, arts and crafts, dance, drama, nature activities, storytelling and messy play.
Sessions are free, no booking is required, healthy snacks are provided, and children can simply turn up and join in.
Get ready to spend the summer in space, as the Science and Industry Museum has announced its summer events programme and it’s full of free interactive events and activities to get involved with these next six weeks.
From live space shows and giant rockets, to tinkering activities Martian discovery trails, and the chance to visit the blockbuster exhibition Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos if you haven’t already, budding astronauts are in for a summer to remember.
By far one of the stand-out free events this summer is the arrival of 30-foot-tall rocket ship, Skybolt 2 – hosted by Manchester-based aerospace company, Starchaser.
Find out more and book tickets for your visit here.
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Forest Tubing
Zip World Manchester
Monday 3 August – onwards
Forest Tubing / Credit: Supplied
Thrill seekers, this one’s for you – as Zip World Manchester has launched its new Forest Tubing experience, and it’s bringing the UK’s longest outdoor tubing slide is coming to Heaton Park.
The new family‑friendly outdoor adventure gives visitors the chance to soar along two slides, winding through woodland at one of the largest parks in the North West.
Suitable for children aged four and above, visitors can book an hour-long session – with unlimited rides during that time slot – and either ride solo, or share the experience with fellow adventurers.
National Trust x Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Trails
North West
Monday 3 August – onwards
National Trust x Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Trails / Credit: James Dobson | Annapurna Mellor
National Trust and Pokémon have teamed up for an exclusive trading card game and immersive trail.
The partnership is set to bring together the places the National Trust cares for and Pokémon’s spirit of play and discovery.
Exclusively designed for the National Trust, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Trails are going to be running throughout summer at 14 National Trust places nationwide, combining ‘imaginative play’ with ‘gentle physical activity’ inspired by Mega Evolution Pokémon.
Find out where to get involved and book tickets here.
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On a budget and need somewhere to take the kids to eat for £1 or even FREE over the summer holidays?
In case the ongoing heatwave didn’t remind you, summer is in full swing and so are the school summer holidays.
If you’re after ways to enjoy some quality family time without having to break the bank, we’ve found lots of places where kids can eat for £1 or free – 15 of them, to be exact.
So, whether you’re in the mood for a hearty Italian, a bit of brekkie, or even a big Greek feast, just because you’re on a budget shouldn’t mean you have to limit your and your family’s taste buds.
It’s strawberry season, and Kenyon Hall Farm has officially opened up its strawberry fields (plus plenty of other pick-your-own produce) for the season for you to frolic amongst, with loads of summer treats in its cafe and award-winning farm shop too.
Strawberries have been growing at Kenyon Hall Farm for nearly 50 years now, and it’s proven as popular ever since.
Did you see that seven Manchester green spaces have been named some of the best in the UK?
Once again, seven of our city’s green spaces – including parks and cemeteries – have been named some of the best the UK has to offer. That’s because leading environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, has handed out its coveted Green Flag Awards, which recognise accessible green spaces that set ‘an international benchmark for management’.
The awards shed light on the groups, volunteers, and staff who devote themselves year-round to the maintenance and upkeep of these areas.
Read more about this incredible honour and find out which green spaces have been chosen here.
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National Play Day 2026
Greater Manchester
Wednesday 5 August
National Play Day 2026 / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester is set to celebrate National Play Day this week, and there’ll be more than 100 free activities for families to join in with.
There’ll be whole series of free events taking place right across the city on a drop-in basis throughout the day. Activities will run from 11am through to 2pm, and will include things like sports coaching, circus skills, cycling taster sessions, live demonstrations, storytelling, and a range of other interactive and hands-on experiences.
Emergency Services Day 2026 / Credit: Trafford Centre
Dozens of emergency services vehicles, live demonstrations, meet and greets, and more will be heading to the Trafford Centre this week, as Emergency Services Day returns for 2026, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at the lifesaving work carried out across the region every day.
Running from 10am through to 4pm, this free family-friendly event promises a full day of excitement, education, and entertainment.
Visitors can expect around 50 emergency service vehicles, live demonstrations, and interactive displays.
Greater Manchester’s iconic heritage railway is currently hosting one of the most unique fine dining experiences in the region this summer.
Running on selected Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through the year, East Lancashire Railway’s ‘Red Rose Diners’ are described as being ‘the ultimate first class foodie experience’, as they start with a glass of fizz and stretch over an almost three-hour steam train journey through the Irwell Valley.
The experience includes a four-course dinner with complimentary sparkling wine, followed by tea or coffee and after-dinner chocolates.
Rochdale Feel Good Fest 2026 / Credit: Supplied via Rochdale Borough Council)
Worried you might have missed your chance to attend a festival this year?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered, as Rochdale Feel Good Festival returns this weekend with a star-studded main stage lineup featuring the likes of Gabrielle, Ash, and Wigan’s very-own Starsailor.
One of the longest-running and best-value festivals in Greater Manchester, Rochdale Feel Good Festival also proudly showcases upcoming artists too, and this year, two new Rochdale bands will play the biggest gig of their careers.
Emily Sergeant -
24th October 2024 
