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There’s a huge beach, live music, a fun fair, and more coming to Manchester next month

Festival Manchester will take over Wythenshawe Park on Friday 1 - Sunday 3 July 2022.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 7th June 2022

Live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, and a huge beach are just some of the attractions kicking off summer in Manchester next month.

After a number of community action projects and events have been taking place across the region over the last few months now, Festival Manchester is set finally come together for one last huge celebration in Wythenshawe Park next month – and it’s free for everyone to attend.

Taking place on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July, and organised by hundreds of churches, and businesses, as well as local charities The Message Trust and Luis Palau Association, Festival Manchester will also include a family fun zone, a high-tech gaming lobby, a mass children’s choir, and live music from a lineup of local acts.

Some of the artists on the musical lineup include Goodboys, Lecrae, Kingdom Choir, Matt Redman, LZ7, Saintz, Guvna B, OTC, Amongst Wolves, and SoulBox.

Festival Manchester is aiming to create “region-wide transformation across the North West”, according to festival organisers.

It’ll be done so by bringing local churches, charities, and communities together to help address real societal problems amid the cost of living crisis – such as food poverty, homelessness, the environment, and the need for more safe and loving homes for children and teenagers in care.

Festival Manchester will take over Wythenshawe Park on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July 2022 / Credit: Festival Manchester

The run-up to the event has also seen multiple ‘Love Where U Live’ community action projects launched to support communities across Manchester with a range of local issues.

Speaking ahead of the arrival of Festival Manchester next month, Paul Dennett – Mayor of the City of Salford and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester – said: “After a really difficult few years following the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is great to see community, voluntary and faith-based organisations coming together to celebrate the amazing work our residents and communities do all-year-round through a free family friendly music festival. 

“Festival Manchester will be a real spectacle in celebrating our city-region’s rich and diverse talent and creativity, bringing people and communities together, whilst also providing many activities for residents of Greater Manchester and beyond to get involved in.”

Andy Hawthorne OBE – founder and CEO of The Message Trust – added: “We’re filling Wythenshawe Park with live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, huge beach, hi-tech gaming lobby, inflatables, kids zone and so much more that everyone across Greater Manchester and the North West can come and enjoy for free.

“It’s all being put on by hundreds of churches from across our region who want to bring the community together and share a message of hope with people as they have fun.

“In the build-up to the festival weekend, you may see teams out clearing litter from streets, tidying up gardens or planting some of the 5,000 fruit trees we’re adding to the local environment.

“We can’t wait to welcome you to Festival Manchester.”

Live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, and a huge beach are just some of the attractions to make the most of / Credit: Festival Manchester

Festival Manchester will take over Wythenshawe Park on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July 2022, and you can find more information here.

Featured Image – Supplied

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Five free places to watch Wimbledon on the big screen in Manchester this summer

Danny Jones Danny Jones free places to watch Wimbledon 2025 in Manchester city centre

It’s grass court season, folks, and as a truly music and tournament-filled summer kicks into fifth gear, we’re making a civilised foray into the all sporting action with Wimbledon, which got underway at the end of June – and we’ve got the perfect places to watch every second here in Manchester.

Us Mancs love sports of pretty much any discipline, it practically makes up the fabric of our city, and in this case, that just so happens to be breathable white cotton or perhaps poly-blend suitable for running around and swinging a racket in.

On a serious note, everyone loves watching tennis for at least this one fortnight during this time of year, and with a record number of British players competing in the tournament right now, there’s all the more reason for you to tune in.

So, all that being said, here a five free, largely family-friendly places to watch Wimbledon 2025 on the big screen here in Manchester city centre.

Where to watch Wimbledon 2025 in Manchester for free

1. Tony Wilson Place – First Street

First up, rather fittingly, we’re returning to one of our go-tos whenever Wimbledon rolls around these days: the big temporary lawn laid out over on the big square at Tony Wilson Place. A sun-trap with deck chairs and plenty of places for food and drink around you – what more could you ask for?

The ever-thriving First Street complex has been paving the way for free social listening/watch parties here in Manchester, especially when it comes to utilising public open-air spaces, and it’s sure to be backed once again for this year’s Women’s Euros too. Trendsetters, they are.

2. Screen on the Square – New Jackson

Heading over towards Castlefield direction and the emerging area known as New Jackson, next on the list of free places to watch Wimbledon in central Manchester is Deansgate Square, where property developers Renaker have set up a special dedicated section for a jam-packed summer of sport.

Simply called ‘Screen on the Square’, the viewing zone not only sits in the shade of the city’s now skyline-defining towers but also catches plenty of rays throughout certain periods of the day. This space will also be doubling up (if you’ll pardon the pun) as a free outdoor cinema throughout the season.

A free open-air cinema is opening in the heart of Manchester’s skyscraper district
Entertainment of all forms over at The Residences.

3. Courts Club – St John’s

From the outskirts of Deansgate to the area’s newest addition, the thriving St John’s district has the perfect home for all things court-based, with a free outdoor screen whilst the sun is out and another big project inside the venue, where you’ll also find plenty of food and drink options.

Courts Club has genuinely started realising its potential as a genuinely popular social hangout as well as being a bar, pub quiz destination, food spot and places to enjoy a rally or shoot a few hoops. Not unlike First St, the faux beach and lawn layout is ideal for a laid-back Wimbledon watchalong.

4. MediaCityUK – Salford Quays

Heading out of the city centre for a spell – though only a tram ride away – the waterside viewing zone at the similarly titled ‘Screen on the Docks’ over at Media City is back for summer 2025 with a wide range of live sport, including cricket, F1 and, yes, Wimbledon.

Situated on the steps right next to the old harbour area, turned home of Greater Manchester mainstay, Box on the Docks, there are all kinds of entertainment to catch for free. Make sure you check their socials for the regular schedule even after the tournament is over.

screen on the docks media city salford quays

5. The Lawn Club

Finally, the last one on this list isn’t necessarily a free viewing area; however, we’ll confess to having wandered in here and taken in the big screen without getting so much as a water before. Also part of the Shiko Group, like Courts, The Lawn Club is exactly as on brand as it sounds.

Located in Spinningfields just a short walk from St John’s around the corner, the bottomless brunch favourite once again has a big screen out on the artificial garden terrace out back. That being said, you might as well give them your custom and grab a Pimm’s while you’re at it.

Best of luck to all our UK stars taking part in Wimbledon this year, and we hope these Manchester venues and their big screens serve as an ace place to watch the games with Hawk-Eyes…

Ok, we’ll stop now.

Read more:

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

What's On

Smash-hit musical Mean Girls to open in Manchester at start of its first UK tour

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Mean Girls The Musical

One of the most popular new musicals of the last decade is set to head out on its first-ever UK tour early next year.

And it’ll be kicking things off here in Manchester.

Based on the iconic 2004 movie of the same name, which is known and loved right across the globe, Mean Girls The Musical debuted at to huge success at the National Theatre in Washington D.C in 2017, before transferring to Broadway in April 2018, again to ecstatic responses where it played to sold-out theatres most nights.

The show then went on a hugely-successful US tour in 2019 and recently completed a second US tour.

Continuing on its run, the production then opened in the West End in 2025, where it was seen by more than 330,000 people over its run and recently took home the coveted ‘Best New Musical’ award at the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards.

Mean Girls The Musical
Mean Girls The Musical
Mean Girls The Musical is opening its first-ever UK tour in Manchester next year / Credit: Brinkhoff Mögenburg

Not only that, but in 2024, you may remember that the new musical twist on the fan-favourite from the comedic mind of Tina Fey was released as a new feature film with sensational musical performances.

But for the first time ever, the rest of the UK is about to get a slice of the action.

Mean Girls The Musical will be heading out on tour early next year, and it’s us lucky musical lovers of Manchester that’ll get to see it before anyone else, as it’s landing on the legendary Manchester Opera House stage in February 2026.

Unfamiliar with the plot of Mean Girls The Musical? Just like the film, the musical follows Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, otherwise known as ‘The Plastics’ of North Shore High, as they meet homeschooled new girl, Cady Heron, as finds out that high school is a whole new level of savage.

Mean Girls The Musical
Tickets go on sale this week / Credit: Brinkhoff Mögenburg

When Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung.

Expect iconic characters, razor-sharp wit, and killer songs.

Mean Girls The Musical has a book by Tina Fey, music and vocal arrangements by Jeff Richmond, lyrics, and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, among many other big names of the theatre world involved.

Read more:

The tour will open at Manchester Opera House on 23 February 2026, before touring to venues across the UK and Ireland until the end of January 2027.

Tickets will go on general sale tomorrow (Thursday 3 July) at 10am here.

Featured Image – Brinkhoff Mögenburg

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