October has arrived and there’s plenty to be getting up to in 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:
Manchester’s very own annual horror film festival – GRIMMFEST: Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Films – is becoming a virtual event for the very first time and will be taking place online from Wednesday to Sunday this week.
Horror films fans have can watch 20 feature films, two short film programmes, two special events – including world-first film premieres – and dozens of supporting events all from the comfort of their own home.
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You can find more information about GRIMMFEST here.
If you’re looking to get in the mood for Halloween early, but 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 and they’re here all month.
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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.
There’ll be some very special visitors at SEA LIFE Manchester this Friday.
You are invited to explore the full Barton Square attraction after hours in this limited, intimate evening session and you’ll also get a rare chance to marvel at the real life mermaids in their natural habitat as they join SEA LIFE Manchester’s resident Sea Turtles – Cammy & Ernie – in the ocean tank.
These evening sessions are running from 4pm – 8pm, with last admission at 7pm.
Tickets are priced at £21.95 for adults and £16.95 for children. You can books yours and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
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Headstock Festival x Nodding Dog Comedy Night
Escape to Freight Island
Tuesday 6th October
Escape to Freight Island
Music and mental wellbeing festival, Headstock, has teamed up with Nodding Dog Comedy to bring a night of stand-up comedy to Piccadilly on Tuesday.
10 comedians – including Live at the Apollo and Britain’s Got Talent stars – will take the stage for the exclusive event at Escape To Freight Island and funds raised from ticket money will go towards Headstock’s partners, which include mental health support organisation Manchester Mind and music charity Help Musicians.
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Tickets must be booked in advance and will set you back £10 per person.
You can books yours and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
This immersive drive-in cinema event – organised by Park N Party – sees terrifying performers swarming on unsuspecting viewers’ during each evening of car park entertainment at Event City in Trafford.
Horror flicks for all film fans will be showing throughout the month of October.
From the comfort of your own car, you can watch Annabelle Comes Home on Friday 9th October, The Witches, Coco and Halloween (2018) on Saturday 10th October, and Hotel Transylvania and The Grudge on Sunday 11th October.
Tickets are priced at £35 per vehicle.
Food and drink is also available to purchase on site, and will be served and distributed in compliance with COVID-19 safety precautions.
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You can reserve your spot at Scare City online now via Eventbrite.
Birdcage looks very different nowadays… Introducing Roxy Ballroom! The games, booze and grub venue has just opened a second location on the Withy Grove side of the Arndale ⚡?
A brand new Roxy Ballroom has just opened up in Manchester city centre.
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Taking over the old 17,000sq ft Birdcage building on Withy Grove, Roxy Ball Room has half a dozen bowling lanes, beer pong tables, shuffleboard, and arcade machines have all been installed, as well as a 12-hole ‘crazy pool’ game on a mezzanine level, and has a wide range of booze, cocktails and American-style food available.
Bookings must be made in advance for households or support bubbles only, with Roxy operation 3pm-10pm during the week and 12pm-10pm at the weekend.
Players can order food and drink using a QR code on each gaming table.
You can book your slot and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
KBOM Bar & Kitchen – based at award-winning independent food, drink and retail destination HATCH on Oxford Road – merges the vibrant flavours of Brazil, with the traditional soul food of Portugal and hosts a very special ‘Sem Fundo’ – otherwise known as bottomless’ brunch – on Sundays.
It includes a starter, main and complimentary drinks during your 90 pre-booked slot, and all of this comes for only £22.95 per person too.
You can book your table for KBOM’s Sem Fundo ‘Bottomless’ Sundayshere.
More information about HATCH and the social distancing / COVID-safe precautions can be found here.
What's On
Trailer released for new Harlan Coben thriller series Lazarus filmed in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The trailer for Harlan Coben’s newest thriller series filmed in Manchester has been released ahead of airing later this month.
You may remember that, back in January of last year, Netflix confirmed it would be creating two more new Harlan Coben shows, following the smash-hit success of Fool Me Once starring Manchester’s-own Michelle Keegan – titled Missing You and Run Away.
Missing You went on to air on New Year’s Day this year, and it was announced in late January that Run Awaywas set to begin filming, again in Manchester, very soon.
But it turns out it’s not only Netflix that Harlan Coben fans need to be keeping their eye on, as Amazon Prime Video is now getting in on the action too.
First look images have been shared ahead of the release of Harlan Coben’s new thriller series filmed in Manchester / Credit: Ben Blackall (via Prime Video)
Prime Video has now released the official trailer for the highly-anticipated new thriller series Lazarus, which is based on an original story idea and written by the New York Times best-selling author, Harlan Coben, alongside his regular writing collaborator, BAFTA-winner Danny Brocklehurst.
Coben has worked with the critically-acclaimed Hyde-born screenwriter – who is most-famous for being the creator and writer of Sky One’s Brassic – for the creation of Lazarus, and it’s expected to be around the sixth time the pair have collaborated, with their previous successful works including Safe, The Stranger, and Stay Close.
Lazarus is set to follow title character Joel Lazarus who returns home after his father Dr Jonathan Lazarus dies by suicide, and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained.
He quickly becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.
The six-part thriller series stars big names like Sam Claflin as Joel Lazarus, and Bill Nighy as his father Dr Jonathan – with supporting performances coming from Alexandra Roach, David Fynn, Karla Crome and Kate Ashfield, to name just a few.
The show will be executive produced by Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst, alongside star Sam Claflin, BAFTA-winner Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee for Quay Street Productions – which is part of ITV Studios.
All six episodes of Lazarus are set to be exclusively released Prime Video on Wednesday 22 October in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Featured Image – Ben Blackall (via Prime Video)
What's On
Manc music legends James announce MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd October 2020 
