November’s here and the colder nights are drawing in, but there’s still so much to be getting up to in Greater Manchester.
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 and socially-distanced in order to keep you as safe as possible during these trying times.
Whatever you fancy doing though, there’s certainly no shortage of choice in our region.
Here’s some of the things you could be getting up to this week:
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Escape to Freight Island
Depot Mayfield
Wednesday 4th – Sunday 8th November
The Ticket Hall at Escape to Freight Island
The Ticket Hall – Escape to Freight Island‘s next stage of evolution – has officially arrived this week.
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If you haven’t had chance to make your way down to Manchester’s newest social experience and one of the hottest tickets in town yet – which is housed at Depot Mayfield in the heart of the city centre – then this is definitely a good week to make that happen.
On the agenda this extended week is REFORM RADIO PRESENTS on Wednesday, Joe Goddard (HOT CHIP DJ SET), Massey & Gina Breeze on Thursday, DJ Paulette & Hypnojive Band LIVE on Friday, Ruf Dug, Abs Ward, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners & Dave Haslam on Saturday, and finally From MCR With Love with Jenna G & Norman Jay MBE & Amuse Bouche all taking to the stage on Sunday.
Tickets to all events must be booked in advance.
You can books yours and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
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50 Windows of Creativity
Manchester City Centre
Monday 26th October – 5th December
50 Windows of Creativity
50 Windows of Creativity is a brand new art trail that celebrates Manchester’s rich creative culture and will see a huge array of spectacular mosaics, installations, fine art, photography, craft, murals and more by local artists and makers pop up in windows, venues, businesses and spaces right across the city centre.
Created by the team behind the award-winning Bee in the City event, 50 Windows of Creativity transform Manchester into an innovative art gallery.
Visitors are invited on a colourful, inspiring and COVID-safe journey around the city centre.
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The trail is also for a number of worthy causes too as it seeks to raise money for the artists involved, and also the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s Charity Appeal Trust – the We Love MCR Charity.
You can find more information about the 50 Windows of Creativity Art Trail here.
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A Good Market
Sadler’s Yard, Old Bank NOMA
Friday 6th November
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Old Bank NOMA / StudioDBD
This is your chance to do your bit and shop local ahead of the festive season.
Situated in the 20-acre NOMA neighbourhood, A Good Market is based in Sadler’s Yard and it features seasonal food, sustainable products, free workshops, engaging talks, live music and great local beers. Hosted by the Old Bank NOMA and the Pilcrow Pub, the weekly event showcases businesses that are B Corp certified, B Corp pending or about to begin their B Corp journey, setting out its stall to be the first of its kind in the UK – or anywhere else.
A Good Market is taking place at Old Bank NOMA every Friday until 18th December 2020 from 2pm – 7pm, and stall holders are announced on a weekly basis via social media.
You can find more information ahead of your visit via the Old Bank NOMA website here, and Instagram account here.
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FilmFear 2020
HOME Manchester
Wednesday 28th October – Thursday 5th November
HOME Manchester
Halloween may be over, but HOME’s annual celebration of big-screen scares – known this year as FilmFear 2020: Scream Now, Think Later – still has a few film-filled days left, with a provocative programme that mixes thrills and chills, with plenty to think about.
For this year’s festival, HOME has partnered with Film4 to co-curate a line-up of modern genre classics that sink their teeth into politics, race, sexuality, social issues and more, with movie-goers told to “prepare yourself for the ‘Night of the Living Subtext’ [as] the real world can be unsettling at the best of times and, as FilmFear proves, horror cinema faces it all without flinching”.
Tickets to all screenings must be booked in advance, and the full programme of films can found here.
You can find more information here and purchase your tickets to each film showing via the HOME Manchester website here.
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Strip! How Football Got Shirty
National Football Museum
2nd – 8th November
National Football Museum
This is one of your last months to catch Strip! How Football Got Shirty before it closes at the National Football Museum at the end of this year.
The exhibition examines the very fibres of shirt fashion, design and technology through the ages, from the heavy woollen jerseys of the Victorian era, to the heavily branded polyester of today. Strip! captures the growth of the football shirt phenomenon and charts the replica boom and the bold designs that followed, right through to the high-tech advancements and retro reappraisals. The accounts of designers, manufacturers, artists and experts are woven throughout the exhibition, but nothing tells the story better than the shirts themselves.
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Over 200 jerseys will be on display in the Score Gallery, featuring bona fide classics, unexpected game-changers, and some spectacular own goals.
You can book tickets for museum entry ahead of time via the National Football Museum website here.
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Dippy on Tour
Rochdale
2nd – 8th November
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Dippy on Tour / Visit Rochdale
Have you been to see ‘Dippy on Tour’ in Rochdale yet?
The exhibition – which features the world-famous dinosaur cast from the Natural History Museum – is back at Number One Riverside and Touchstones Rochdale as the only North West stop on its national tour after reopening following the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, and due to the months that visits were unfortunately halted, Dippy’s stay has now been extended until 12th December 2020 to allow for as many people as possible to visit safely before moving to the next location.
There’s no need to book tickets in advance, but you find more information about all social distancing / COVID-safe precautions ahead of your visit here.
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Days Like These at The Lowry
Salford Quays
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Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th November
The Lowry / Nessa Heath
The Galleries have finally and safely reopened to the public at The Lowry.
Days Like These is a new exhibition sharing the stories of Salford in 2020 – using paintings, photographs, films and poetry contributed by some of the 245,000 residents of the city. From empty Salford streets and the joy of reuniting, to the impact on frontline workers and the challenges of being alone, the exhibition wants to reflect the hopes and fears of everyone, then and now.
On display will be ‘The Frontline’ by Sophie McBriarty – which documents the lockdown experiences of people from Salford – and the tribute to Salford’s key workers has proved one of the most popular submissions to the new exhibition.
Alongside Days Like These is a new display of the best of Salford’s own LS Lowry – an artist known for his paintings of crowded city streets, and vast empty landscapes.
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Prior booking is essential ahead of your visit to The Lowry.
Booking Details • The Galleries are open for weekends only. • Opening hours will be 11am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. • Social distancing measures are in place, together with a one-way system. • Visits to the gallery will be via timed entry slots, so please ensure you arrive on time as late-comers may be declined entry.
You can book your slot and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
What's On
We Are Football Fest – Europe’s largest World Cup fan park gets even bigger as ‘Big Sam’ joins the party
Daisy Jackson
The largest World Cup fan park not just in Manchester or the UK but all of Europe just got even bigger, as the latest ambitious project from 4TheFans is seeing them expand from Freight Island into Depot Mayfield.
In fact, the former has already sold out in just four hours, and with a former England manager set to turn up, you’d better be quick about booking your tickets…
We Are Football Festival, in partnership with Freight Island and Broadwick, will bring together 13,000 football fans in front of the biggest screens in the country to cheer on England as they continue their race for World Cup glory.
The already enormous fan park opened at Freight in June, but now they’ll be opening up the iconic Depot next door, further transforming the space into an unrivalled celebration of football, with the one and only Sam Allardyce even set to turn up on stage.
The outdoor screen has been box office vibes since minute oneWe Are Football Festival by 4TheFansThe fan park spills over into Depot MayfieldCredit: Vision Seven
We know he was only in charge for one game, but he’s still the only England boss to boast a 100% win record, after all.
Fans have been utterly immersed in the action thanks to a massive sound system, pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, DJs, and entertainment around the games themselves – providing just about the closest thing you can get to a big game atmosphere.
The venue is open for all late kick-offs, too, and with England now through to the quarter-final stages following that dramatic 3-2 thriller against Mexico, the heat is really starting to ramp up.
Fans can head to Freight, as well as the rooftop or garden at Depot Mayfield from 5pm kick-off on matchdays in the sunshine, now with room for even more supporters to flood into the famous Manc Warehouse for those late-night games in the warehouse.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t get much later than a 4am full-time whistle again, eh?
There’s also the dedicated ‘Footy Fun Village’, which includes sponsored activations, games zones, and more family-friendly areas, creating a safe space for fans of all ages to enjoy the tournament no matter the time of day.
4TheFans and Freight Island have also hand-picked a great selection of food traders from around the world, not to mention a top-shelf bar selection.
We Are Football Fest’s 2026 World Cup coverage also comes with dedicated 4TheFans hosts, plus Sky Sports presenters, and the matches thus far have even seen England football legends providing quality match analysis at each screening.
Since launching, 4TheFans has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fans, and camera crews from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, England TV, and Match of the Day, to fan parks across the UK.
It’s now chosen Depot Mayfield for its World Cup fan park, where they can fill the huge space at Freight Island first before scaling into the rest of the Depot as the fan community grows and the Three Lions march on.
4TheFans is the UK’s original and biggest fan park brand, and it’s working with Freight Island and Broadwick to deliver this game-changing We Are Football Festival – the biggest and best fan park in Europe.
5,000 early bird tickets are available from just £4.50 per person, each coming with one beer included, and are on sale right HERE.
4TheFans presents We Are Football Festival runs at Depot Mayfield until 19 July 2026.
General admission tickets include
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Football legend in attendance
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
VIP table tickets include
VIP table section with the best view of the giant screens and the event
Meet and greet with a football legend
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
It’s been packed for every England game up to this pointHow the indoor Depot warehouse room will lookCredit: Supplied via 4TheFans
Featured Images – Press shots by Vision Seven (supplied via 4TheFans)
What's On
Title partner and more collaborators confirmed for first-ever Stockport 10k
Danny Jones
The official title partners and other key collaborators for the inaugural Stockport 10k run and road race have been confirmed, with Vitality lending its name as the new lead sponsor.
Now set to be dubbed the Vitality Stockport 10K moving forward as part of a multi-year agreement beginning in 2026, the new running event by the UK’s leading organisers, RunThrough, has already seen huge interest.
The popular promotion and growing sports community currently boasts more than 300 different events across the country over the course of the annual calendar.
Ahead of this new SK iteration launching later this month, the nearby health insurance company are teaming up with the likes of the RunThrough team, Stockport County and more.
We're proud to announce @Vitality_UK the Title Partner of the inaugural Vitality Stockport 10K! 🏃
Join us on 19 July 2026 for an unforgettable road closed race starting and finishing at Edgeley Park.
As mentioned, places are already selling out fast with hundreds signing up from the moment the race went on sale.
Besides Edgeley Park football stadium hosting a memorable finish line at the local ground, Stockport County’s Community Trust arm is also playing a big role in the maiden Greater Manchester movement.
Lots of runners will be taking on the 10 kilometre/6.2 mile challenge for all kinds of reasons, but importantly, this first edition will also help raise money for the Trust’s completely free health and wellbeing programmes across the borough.
Eddie Owen, who heads up the schemes, said in a statement: “We’re delighted to be supporting this new community 10K and bringing people together at Edgeley Park for what promises to be a fantastic event.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to get active, support an important cause and be part of something that will have a lasting impact on our local community.
“Every entry will help us continue delivering our free health projects and move us closer to our goal of funding a brand-new health initiative for an entire year. We can’t wait to welcome runners, supporters and families to Edgeley Park in July.”
As for RunThrough themselves, CEO Jack Williams went on to add: “We’re proud to announce Vitality as the title sponsor of the inaugural Vitality Stockport 10K.
“Their commitment to the local community makes them a fantastic partner for this event, and with the run starting and finishing at Edgeley Park, it already has a strong SK identity. We’re excited to work together to create a welcoming and memorable race day for runners and supporters across the town.”
The run itself is set to start along Harcastle Road, pass through the gorgeous Bramhall Park, back towards the town centre and Edgeley, before finishing at the famous Cheadle End.
Regarding the route itself, the course will treat participants to a route with a fairly flat elevation profile, making it ideal not only for those looking to notch a new personal best but entry level runners, too.
One of the best parts about RunThrough as well is the added bonus of accurate chip timing, a unique finisher’s medal design for each event, goodie bags and even free photos after completion.
Nick Read, Chief Vitality Officer, went on to add: “We’re delighted to partner with RunThrough as title sponsor of the Vitality Stockport 10K. This event brings together the local community in a way that reflects what Vitality stands for — making movement accessible, enjoyable and part of everyday life, whatever your starting point.
“Stockport is a key location for Vitality, both as a growing hub for our people and as one where we want to have a meaningful, long-term presence. It’s particularly fitting that this debut event takes place on the eve of opening our new office at No.3 Stockport Exchange.
“The space has been designed with health and wellbeing at its core, and this event is a great example of the kind of community-led initiatives we’re proud to support, helping to encourage more people to get active in a way that works for them.”
Entries for the Vitality Stockport 10K are open now, with runners from all over Greater Manchester invited to take their place on the start line come Sunday, 19 July 2026 – you can secure your spot HERE.
The North West running renaissance continues, and we’re absolutely here for it.
Emily Sergeant -
29th October 2020 
