Autumn is here and October’s now well underway… but it hasn’t exactly felt like it though, has it?
With unseasonably warm temperatures and sunshine soaring over much of the UK this past week, it’s certainly not been a typical start to the new month – but despite the weather, there’s still loads of events happening in Greater Manchester that’ll easily get you feeling all festive and in the mood for the spooky season.
If you’re finding it a bit tricky to choose though, then we’ve cherry-picked a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide this week.
Luna’s Legendary Creature Halloween Trail gives visitors the chance to get up close to five of Chester Zoo’s most magical species.
Having now kicked-off, and running right up until Halloween itself, the rhinoceros hornbill, Sulawesi-crested macaque, and huge Sunda gharial crocodile are just some of the species you’ll get to learn all about as you make your way around the 90-minute interactive trail.
You’ll be tasked with helping Luna the witch discover a legendary creature living deep inside the zoo’s Monsoon Forest habitat.
A magical new Halloween lakeside light trail has transformed Partridge Lakes Fishery in Warrington into “an enchanting Halloween attraction”.
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Organisers say the hour-long immersive experience is like “stepping into a living Halloween storybook”.
You’ll be able to see the “mesmerising world of Halloween wonder” come to life as you stroll along a winding path around the lake’s edge that leads that takes you on a magical journey through woodland decorated by eerie and captivating lights.
Bondi Bowls, a fast food spot inspired by the health-conscious takeaways of Australia, is opening its doors down at KAMPUS this week.
The business is already a firm favourite amongst Mancs after its time spent at Escape to Freight Island, the now-closed street food village Hatch, and on delivery platform Deliveroo – and now, it’s moved into a dedicated restaurant space within the popular garden neighbourhood.
The menu features flavour-packed salad bowls, like a Caesar Bowl, a Mexican Bowl, and a Poke Bowl, each one customisable with protein-packed add-ons like charred salmon, watermelon sashimi, and tofu, while the vegan-friendly offering also includes Acai Bowls and fresh smoothies.
To celebrate the launch on Monday 9 October, Bondi Bowls will be giving away 100 free bowls to the first customers who head down from 11:30am.
Richard Kelly: A Time and Place / Credit: Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
Some rarely-seen photos of Amy Winehouse are currently on display in Manchester to mark the late singer’s 40th birthday.
The exclusive images of the legendary vocalist are forming part of an exhibition showcasing work by critically-acclaimed music photographer Richard Kelly that’s currently happening down at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in the city centre.
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Following its unprecedented popularity, the exhibition‘s stay in our city has been extended, and will now be running until the end of October.
Did you know you can get a pass to visit loads of National Trust sites across the UK for FREE this autumn?
Autumn in Greater Manchester is a wonderful thing, and and our region is filled with places to appreciate the beauty of this much-loved season – but if you were looking for a reason to travel a little further afield to experience everything nature has to offer and see the leaves change colour, then it doesn’t get much better than this.
This is why the National Trust wants to give people the chance to “experience the awe of the season” at no extra cost.
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Autumn at the National Trust / Credit: National Trust
The pass allows free entry for two adults and up to three children, one adult and up to four children, or just two adults on their own.
Find out more about how to claim the limited-time offer here.
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Operation Ouch!
Science and Industry Museum
Monday 9 October – onwards
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Operation Ouch! / Credit: Science Museum Group
A brand-new exhibition is currently having its world premiere at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, and it’s giving families the chance to “dive headfirst into the digestive system” and “travel like a poo”.
The new blockbuster exhibition, Operation Ouch!, is based on and will see the award-winning CBBC children’s TV series brought to life.
Visitors can expect interactive experiences, amazing objects from the Science Museum Group’s collection, and appearances from world-renowned doctors who will be on hand to guide audiences through this “lively, interactive, and playful adventure to better understand our brilliant bodies”.
Julia and Axel – 30 Years of Favourite Stories / Credit: The Lowry / MediaCityUK
The incredible work of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is being celebrated in a new exhibition at The Lowry that’s running right through until 2024.
The free family-friendly exhibition features several of Julia Donaldson’s personal writing notebooks that contain her first ideas and creative thinking behind her picture book stories, and these are shown alongside Axel Scheffler’s artwork to show the process of his illustrations.
Little Mancs can be creative themselves at the exhibition, as they are guided to write their own stories, draw pictures, dress up, and play fun games inspired by the books.
Spookfest is back once again for 2023 and it’s promising more frightful fun than ever before.
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Returning to the Trafford Centre for yet another spooky season, visitors heading down to the massive shopping centre can expect a scary circus, a frightening fairground full of retro rides, and a seriously-impressive five-metre tall tower of pumpkins.
You can also get into the spooky spirit with free face painting, the chance to meet and greet a whole host of Halloween characters, and so much more.
Fancy trying out some new bars, and restaurants that have opened in Greater Manchester this month?
October is set to be a big month for new restaurant openings in Manchester.
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Some of the most high-anticipated launches of the year are taking place this month, with everything from Sexy Fish, that hugely glitzy London establishment that’s moving into Spinningfields at long last, to Louisiana fried chicken legends Popeyes.
Leeds’ favourite ramen house House of Fu is also opening, and there’s a Broadway Diner, where wait staff sing musical numbers at you while you eat.
You’ll also find new restaurants to check out right across Greater Manchester too.
What better way to celebrate Friday 13th – or pretend it doesn’t exist – than with a ‘spooky season’ special of GRUB’s hugely-popular Disco Bingo?
The massive street food and social hub in Cheetham Hill puts on one of the most entertaining nights in Manchester when it hosts its Disco Bingo event on the second Friday of every month, with a different theme each time – and this month, on what is arguably one of the scariest dates of them all, there’s a ‘Spooky Season’ special on Friday 13.
You can expect spooky singing, dancing, drinks flowing all night long, and, of course, a good old game of bingo with lots of prizes to be won.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group | The Manc Group | Chester Zoo
What's On
Blossoms’ ‘Five Nights in Manchester’ residency – everything you need to know
Danny Jones
The Blossoms boys are ramping up for their ‘Five Nights in Manchester’ residency to round off their UK tour of Gary, the fantastic fifth studio album which released earlier this year to critical acclaim.
Set to play not just one or two but five certifiably fantastic-looking gigs at five different Manc music institutions, each with a special place in our hearts and theirs, the incredible run of nights kicks off this Tuesday, 18 November and will see them play tracks from the album along with their biggest hits.
If you managed to grab yourself a ticket to at least one of these sell-out shows, you’re likely already trying to get things organised in your head to stop yourself from simply tail-spinning into an excited frenzy, so we thought we’d help you out where we can.
From the support acts to stage times, setlists and more, here’s everything you need to know ahead of Blossoms‘ ‘Five Nights in Manchester’.
Blossoms Manchester residency – all the important info
First up on the list is Manchester Academy on Oxford Road, where Blossoms will be starting their Manchester marathon of shows on Tuesday, 19 November – it will be the first time they’ve played the 2,600-capacity room since 2016.
Next up is the O2 Ritz on Wednesday (20 Nov), which many of the band members have said is their favourite venue of the lot given the number of acts they themselves have seen there and arguably their breakthrough hometown gig back in 2015, returning multiple times since then.
In at number three is the historic Albert Hall, where they’ve also taken the stage on a number of occasions, but this time their gig on Thursday, 21 November will see them perform their most polished and sprawling set yet.
The penultimate place hosting Blossoms’ Man residency is the O2 Victoria Warehouse over in Stretford, which will see them start the weekend in style this Friday (22 Nov). A big gig space made for big bands, so they’re a perfect fit.
And lastly, the Stockport boys round out the ‘Five Nights in Manchester’ mini-tour at one of the city’s very best venues full stop: the O2 Apollo. That sloping sprung floor, the stocks and the angle from the top tier – if you don’t know why this place is so special, we just can’t help you…
Perhaps the best part about this entire section of the tour, in our opinion, is that you’re getting a TONNE of different support acts across the five nights.
Not only are you getting different names every night but each Manchester gig will have not one but two warm-up acts, meaning you’ll fans will be treated to a total of 10 up-and-coming artists – and most of them are local too.
From Oldham’s very own Seb Lowe and Earlestown’s The K’s, who both supported them at Wythenshawe Park, to Scots Neon Waltz, local lads Delights; Manc rockers The Guest List; the ‘female Sam Fender’, a.k.a. Siobhan Winifred, London indie pop group Soft Launch, Brummy boys overpass, Leigh’s very-own Lottery Winners AND Liam Gallagher’s son’s exciting new band, Villanelle.
Phew. Let us catch our breath for a second. Sounds like an unreal few nights of nothing but non-stop indie and good times, right?
With doors opening from 7pm on all five nights in Manchester, you can expect a good half-hour or so for each support act, as well as two intervals to grab yourself a drink, nip to the loo or take a breather from your ape suit (trust us, we’ve seen plenty of people doing it) before the main event.
Blossoms are scheduled to take the stage for their highly-anticipated headline performances at 9pm throughout the residency, so you can plan accordingly depending on how far long it takes you to get to each venue from your location.
Luckily, they’re all in the city centre, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to get to any of them; maybe just give yourself an extra bit of leeway to head to the likes of a busy Oxford Rd and to queue of course.
The concerts so far on this tour have lasted around two hours, meaning you’ll be heading home by 11pm, which should be just enough time to get the earworm that is ‘Gary’ out of your head.
Setlist for Blossoms’ Gary tour
Now, it won’t surprise anyone to learn that most of their current setlist is made up of tunes from the new album, but we’ll warn you now that they won’t be playing Gary in full.
They’ve sprinkled hits from previous albums into the running order and, according to the Leeds show recorded on the ever trusty Setlist.fm, they have the split down as five songs from their debut, four from Foolish Loving Spaces, two tracks from Cool Like You and just one from Ribbon Around the Bomb.
Meanwhile, there’ll be seven songs off Gary. You can see the most recent show from start to finish down below, but you can always expect some surprises from these guys:
Your Girlfriend
Perfect Me
Oh No (I Think I’m in Love)
What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?
I Can’t Stand It
Getaway
If You Think This Is Real Life
Big Star
Slow Down
The Keeper
Care For
Honey Sweet
Gary
I Like Your Look
At Most a Kiss
My Favourite Room
Encore:
Nightclub
There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)
Charlemagne – obviously…
A glimpse at what the Blossoms stage will look like for the ‘Five Nights in Manchester’ shows.
And that should be just about everything you need to know ahead of Blossoms’ ‘Five Nights in Manchester’: a once-in-a-lifetime event that’s going to go down in history and Manc music heritage.
They’ve described this as a “lover letter” to the places that helped put them on the map, not to mention a trip down memory lane now more than a decade into their career.
If you were looking for a secret ticket link from us, we hate to break it to you but this thing sold out in a flash. You can of course keep your eye out on resellers like Twickets and SeeTickets but, as always with these things, be careful and due your due diligence.
Get ready to say hello to an eight-foot-tall gorilla and have what we already know is going to be an amazing week.
Featured Images — Ewan Ogden (supplied)/The Manc Group
What's On
Greater Manchester cinemas are screening loads of classic Christmas films throughout December
Emily Sergeant
Cinemas across the UK will be screening loads of classic festive films in the run-up to Christmas, and you can already book tickets.
With the nights drawing in, the temperatures dropping by the day, and the most wonderful time of the year now firmly in our sights, film fans looking for some wholesome festive fun in the run-up to the big day itself will soon be able to head on down to their nearest Greater Manchester cinema to catch a classic on the big screen.
Vue, Odeon, and The Light are among the cinema chains set to screen a handful of beloved Christmas films throughout December.
Although there may already be a TV channel showing Christmas films 24/7 now on air in the UK, if you fancy seeing the festivities in full screen instead, then you can watch showings of fan-favourites like Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually, and more over the next few weeks.
Greater Manchester cinemas are screening loads of classic Christmas films throughout December / Credit: 20th Century Studios | Universal Pictures
You can also see seasonal screenings of live ballet, theatre, and concert performances too.
Undoubtably one of the highlights on the lineup this year, however, has to be The Polar Express, with several cinema chains scheduled to screen the 2004 animated Christmas gem to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release.
Starring Tom Hanks alongside a talented supporting cast of voice actors, The Polar Express is based on the beloved children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg and tells the story of a young boy who boards a powerful magical train to visit Santa Claus’ home on Christmas Eve, learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas along the way.
Elf, Home Alone, and Love Actually are among the films on the lineup / Credit: Krists Luhaers (via Unsplash)
Looking for a more intimate festive film experience this Christmas?
Well you can also get yourself down to one of Manchester’s most popular hotels, King Street Townhouse, where a jam-packed lineup of classics will be screened in its very-own exclusive cinema over the next two months.
Here you can also complete your seasonal experience with festive-themed cocktails, popcorn, pick n mix, and a whole host of other treats too.
Emily Sergeant -
6th October 2023 
