May is here and our next opportunity for freedom is on the horizon.
With ‘Step Two’ in the government’s roadmap to lifting England’s current national lockdown having already commenced from 12th April, and ‘Step Three’ – which crucially allows up to 30 people from different households to gather outdoors, hospitality to open indoors, indoor entertainment venues to reopen, indoor group sports / exercise classes to commence and more – set to be introduced from 17th May, pending official review, normality has been returning to Greater Manchester week on week.
And there’s plenty to be getting up to.
If you’re stuck for something to do, then this is your go-to guide for what’s on and what’s happening in the city of Manchester and beyond this week.
Some of the events we’re going to mention here are completely free, others will set you back a few pounds and most will need to be booked in advance, but all are COVID-secure in order to keep you as safe as possible:
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Whatever you fancy doing though, there’s certainly no shortage of choice in our region, so here’s some of the things you can get stuck into:
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World of Music Choir
Band On The Wall (Virtual)
Tuesday 4th May
World Of Music Choir
Think you’ve got a good singing voice? Love to sing regardless?
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Organised in Greater Manchester by the city’s iconic music venue, Band On The Wall, but happening every Tuesday at 6pm virtually all across the UK, World of Music Choir invites you to join award-winning folk singer Bella Hardy and the fantastic guest leaders for a workshop of song learning and harmony.
Workshop participants sing traditional and modern songs, three-part harmonies and rounds, all learned by ear, so you don’t have to be able to read music to take part.
The main aim is to enjoy yourself – there’s nothing scary, and no judgements are made.
Keen to learn the history of the iconic Manchester Guardian newspaper on its 200th anniversary?
The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, was first published on Saturday 5th May 1821, and this tour – led by notable Manchester tour guide, Jonathan Schofield – tells the story of how it came into being amid the turmoil following the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, and will also reveal the story of the city and the paper as both grew to international importance.
The tour will look at the extraordinary characters, and the weird and wonderful stories from The Manchester Guardian that give primary source to so many years of Manchester life.
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Tickets for each 90+ minute tour will set you back £15 and must be booked in advance here.
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Music Matters
Contact Theatre MCR
Thursday 6th May
Contact MCR
Contact – the city’s much-loved “fiercely northern theatre with an international outlook” – is set to welcome five up and coming musicians from Manchester for a 90-minute panel discussion via Zoom centred on a range of issues and talking points within the music industry that they are passionate about.
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This live discussion will also feature performances from each of the artists involved.
Although the event is free, advanced booking is required and you will receive a link to watch the live event via email.
To celebrate the reopening of one of the city’s most iconic and historic venues, the Grade II-listed Victoria Baths will be hosting a Creative Makers Fair designed specifically to give some much-needed support to independent makers and businesses after a challenging 12 months and as lockdown begins to lift.
Ideas for the home, textiles, art, gifts and jewellery will be just some of the products being showcased by businesses from the North West.
You can find more information, COVID-safety procedures, and book tickets here.
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Manchester Cheese Crawl
Central Manchester
Saturday 8th May
Geograph / Ian S | Northern Soul Grilled Cheese
The Manchester Cheese Crawl will take you around some of the cheesiest spots the city has to offer for two hours of non-stop cheese-related fun, including everything from blue cheese tasting, to cheese quizzes, competitions and more.
Starting off in St Ann’s Square, the tour wanders across the city and gives you the chance to try the finest cheeses Manchester has to offer along the way.
With tours taking place this Saturday 8th May, and happening every Saturday until 25th September, tickets cost just £25 each and include cheese samples, optional bread and crackers, and some red wine to complement.
Nestled among the backstreets of Manchester and tucked into the courtyard of an old, red-brick historic mill, Ancoats Pop Up Market is a COVID-safe weekly-run market event which has teamed up with MUD (Manchester Urban Diggers) to supply the neighbourhood with a wealthy selection of fresh, organic and locally-grown fruit and veg, as well as dry goods, all throughout May.
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The market also features Manchester-based stallholders serving speciality coffee, locally-brewed rum liquors, locally-sourced bakes and crafts, and more.
Street food and freshly-brewed coffee is also available while you browse.
Named as “Manchester’s best secondhand book sale”, the Elizabeth Gaskell’s House secondhand book sale is a popular favourite for book lovers.
From 11am – 4pm, with new stock every month, there’ll be two rooms packed full of secondhand books of all genres, including a wide variety of contemporary fiction, art, gardening, photography, classics, OS maps, biographies, history, cookery, social history and children’s.
Prices start from £1 for a paperback.
A number of social distancing measures will be in place, the wearing of face masks is mandatory, and all visitors browsing will be asked to use hand sanitiser before they touch the books.
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Pre-booking is essential due to limited numbers, and you can register here.
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Secret City
EventCity
Monday 3rd – Sunday 8th May
Park N Party
Manchester’s newest event space is back and it’s better than ever.
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Cinemas and entertainment complexes may currently still be closed, but reopening is on the horizon.
If you’re far too eager to wait until mid-May though, Park N Party – the team that delivered both the sell-out successes of ScareCity and ChristmasCity, and a number of other outdoor live events throughout 2020 – has launched SecretCity, and there’s a whole host of immersive drive-in entertainment events happening this week.
There’s screenings of cinema classics such as The Greatest Showman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Mulan, and more all on show throughout the week.
Tickets must be booked in advance, and you can grab yours from £35 per car here.
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Totally Roarsome
Mottram Hall
Monday 3rd – Sunday 8th May
Totally Roarsome
Named by many as being one of the safest attractions for all the family in Greater Manchester, Totally Roarsome took the region by storm last summer after it opened to the public following the initial lifting of coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions in mid-2020, with visitors flocking from far and wide.
Now at the new location of Mottram Hall, just over the border into Cheshire, Totally Roarsome features everything from dinosaurs, jungle animals and Arctic creatures, to superheroes, pirates and cartoon characters.
Tickets are priced at £7.95 per ticket (+ £1.50 booking fee, per transaction), and must be booked in advance online from the Totally Roarsome Facebook page.
This is to manage and restrict the number of visitors / families being allowed around the attraction at any one at a time, with five minutes between slots, to allow for necessary COVID-safety precautions and social distancing measures to be upheld.
You can find out more information, and book your tickets here.
The OT Art Trail – which has been organised by OT Creative Space and is funded by Arts Council England – sees a number of local artists work together with members of the Manchester community to create six individual large scale murals which have been painted onto walls and building gable ends around the area, including in Seymour Park and Ayres Road.
The new murals have added to murals and artwork already seen around Old Trafford.
The several new street art sites will be linked together via a downloadable audio tour, which is suitable for people of all ages.
Each mural centres around the theme ‘community togetherness and diversity’.
You can find more information on The OT Art Trail via the OT creative SPACE website here.
What's On
Nao at New Century, Manchester – A room full of 1,000 ‘Happy People’
Thomas Melia
Attending a Nao gig is worth waiting ‘Another Lifetime’ for… especially when she performs directly from the venue’s bar.
As someone who has followed this artist for quite a few years, finally getting to see her do what she does best on stage and not through a screen is immense.
Last time she stopped off in Manchester she graced Albert Hall,this time she’s opted for another historic venue, New Century.Nao clearly knows how to choose her venues wisely.
Recently, the Nottingham star released her album Jupiter. So recent in fact, that it only reached our ears two weeks ago. The Manchester crowd certainly did their homework, knowing every lyric off by heart.
The first taste of this LP skyrocketed into our ears in October when the singer-songwriter dropped ‘Wildflowers’, so it’s only fitting this marks the opening of this setlist.
This single’s accompanying music video saw her swarmed in a field of red-hue wild grass and it’s made its way to our vibrant city, decorating the Manchester stage.
Credit: The Manc Group
To follow this, she plays two tracks both taken from her other planetary project Saturn. ‘If You Ever’ is a great fire-starter ahead of a cracking night of live music.
It’s almost like someone flips a switch as the audience immediately understands the assignment, feeling every rhythm in their body, rapping The Lumineers name-dropping ‘Make It Out Alive’ verbatim.
Credit: The Manc Group
Four songs in and ‘Happy People’ gets a turn at exciting the crowd. This uplifting and guitar-plucking number is one you can’t help but move to and New Century proves just that.
Nao’s personality flutters over the wild grass adorning the stage and radiates into the flurry of fans. One of these fans has travelled all the way from Portugal and ‘Tommy’, the Manchester legend, who’s attended every city centre tour date, both of which Nao pointed out.
When the 37-year-old star sings her two Mura Masa produced bangers, that bouncy floor at New Century isn’t ready for what’s about to unfold.
Initiating the two-track ensemble the “Woa woa woa woa woa” filled, ‘Complicated’, excites and emits an electric energy, definitely helped by Nao’s necessary yet unexpected dance break.
Credit: The Manc Group
With the second anthemic instalment of the night ‘Firefly’, Nao sings, “Just say you’ll be my firefly” and with vocals this hypnotic, the crowd would do anything she asked of them.
An encore usually means giving a three minute rendition of your biggest hit. Well for Nao this isn’t enough. Instead she takes things one step further, climbing onto the venue’s bar for a stripped back version of ‘Another Lifetime’ and after those vocals my legs were liquid jelly.
Ending the night on even more of a high, Nao sings ‘Drive and Disconnect’ a standout in her discography and a much-loved track, proved by the fact she brings fans on stage to close the night with her.
Credit: The Manc Group
Don’t meet your idols, they say, but when your idol is even better live than on her studio recordings, it’s hard to stay away. Thank you Nao for blessing Manchester once again and me for the very first time.
Sabrina Carpenter at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist, and more for Short ‘n’ Sweet tour
Thomas Melia
Sabrina Carpenter is bringing her live show to Manchester, as the blonde bombshell’s Short ‘n’ Sweet Tour heads to Co-op Live.
Ex-Disney actress turned worldwide phenomenon, Sabrina Carpenter is jetting her way up and down Europe to embark on the second leg of the massive tour.
The Pennsylvania native has been a consistent face for pop culture, through her ‘Nonsense’ outros and her various ‘Juno’ positions which end with the risqué lyric, “Have you ever tried this one?”.
From ‘Espresso’, ‘Taste’ to ‘Please Please Please’, it comes as no surprise that this singer had the UK’s Official Charts in her fingertips, racking up 20 weeks at the top spot last year.
The ‘Feather’ singer has chosen Co-op Live, the newest live music entertainment venue in the city boasting a 23,500 capacity as the sweet spot for her new tour.
If you’re lucky enough to be heading down to see Sabrina Carpenter in Manchester, here’s everything you need to know.
Sabrina Carpenter UK tour dates
Thu 6 March – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Sat 8 March – London, UK – The O2
Sun 9 March – London, UK – The O2
Tue 11 March – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Thu 13 March – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Fri 14 March – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Sabrina Carpenter tickets for Co-op Live gig
As expected, all the tickets for this two-show event have been snapped up and I think you’d have to use your ‘Sharpest Tool’ to try and prize them from the hands of any loyal Sabrina fans.
There’s always the possibility that some final tickets may get released up to a few hours before, however there are no guarantees. Eager fans can check out the Ticketmaster official site HERE.(Just in case).
However if you’re willing to drop a couple of £100’s, there’s one ticket on fan to fan resale site Twickets in the region of £430!
Sabrina Carpenter setlist
There’s no ‘Slim Pickins’ around here as Ms. Carpenter has done her absolute best to condense her vast discography into a ‘Short ‘n’ Sweet’ eighteen track array of career highlights.
Taste
Good Graces
Slim Pickins
Tornado Warnings
Bed Chem
Feather
Read your Mind
Fast Times
opposite
Sharpest Tool
because i liked a boy
Coincidence
Nonsense
Dumb & Poetic
Juno
Please Please Please
Don’t Smile
Espresso
What are the stage times for Sabrina Carpenter in Manchester?
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm meaning concertgoers can be safe knowing they’ve heard Carpenter’s hits and still be able to get tucked up under the covers for that all important beauty sleep.
Doors for ‘The Short ‘n’ Sweet Tour’ are scheduled for 5.30pm with a kick off time of 7pm with support from one of the UK’s finest indie talents, Rachel Chinouriri.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, luckily it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue but this must be pre-booked ahead of time and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the boke all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Emily Sergeant -
30th April 2021 
