Now that October is here, you know what that means? We’re really not that far away from the big festive ‘C word’.
Sure, it may still feel like a little bit early to some of you to be talking about Christmas now, but the Trafford Centre is really getting into the seasonal spirit as it has this week announced that its popular grotto experience will be returning next month.
This year, the shopping centre is taking things up a notch too, as The Grotto is described as being a ‘joyful’ and ‘interactive’ adventure where you’ll become part of a magical mission – saving Christmas cheer.
The North Pole’s magic runs on the spirit of Christmas, but something’s gone wrong this time.
According to the Trafford Centre, The Cheer-o-Meter has been malfunctioning and dropping fast, and without a high-enough cheer reading, Santa’s sleigh won’t be able to fly and Christmas deliveries will be grounded – so this is where you all come in.
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Visitors’ magical journeys through The Grotto will start at Gingerbread Lane as they write their letters to Santa and get briefed for their mission, all before they then head into the Merrymarker Studio to giggle, shout, and complete in colourful challenges to power up the Cheer-o-Meter.
Then finally, in Santa’s Study, visitors will get to seal their letters and get ready for a magical photo moment, all before meeting Santa himself.
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The Trafford Centre has announced the return of its ‘festive wonderland’ grotto this Christmas / Credit: Supplied
“Christmas is our favourite time of year at Trafford Centre, as it’s all about creating unforgettable memories for our guests,” explained Simon Layton, who is the Centre Director at Trafford Centre.
“The Grotto was a huge success last year, with so many families telling us how magical it felt, so we’re thrilled to welcome it back. Tickets are already in high demand, so book early to ensure your family can experience the wonder of meeting Santa this Christmas.”
To make the experience accessible to all, even more Whispering Winter sessions will also be available this year.
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These specially-tailored visits feature softer lighting, quieter music, and fewer visitors to create a calm and inclusive environment for every child to enjoy the magic of Christmas.
Tickets to The Grotto at the Trafford Centre are now on sale and selling fast – with prices starting from £27, plus booking fee for children (including a Christmas gift), and £9.50 plus booking fee for adults.
Massive festive event dubbed the ‘Glastonbury of Christmas’ is returning to the North West
Daisy Jackson
The North West’s most extravagant festive event, with everything from a frozen skating pond to a snow-covered world filled with elves, will return just outside Greater Manchester this winter.
Dubbed the ‘Glastonbury of Christmas’, LaplandUK recreates the home of Father Christmas himself right outside Greater Manchester.
The event was so popular last year, organisers are expecting more than one million people will join the queue for tickets when they go live this week – with tickets expected to sell out in hours.
Families who book tickets for LaplandUK – which range in price from £60 to £195 – will be greeted by hundreds of elves and other performers in a snow-covered landscape.
You’ll be able to visit the Lapland Toy Factory to make a toy for Santa’s sleigh; decorate gingerbead with Mother Christmas in the Lapland Bakery, as well as skating on a frozen pond and travelling through the Whispering Woods.
Every child leaves LaplandUK with a gift from Father Christmas.
The immersive experience takes around four and a half hours from start to finish, but the magic begins way before – ticket-holders are sent personalised invitation boxes (which you can pop in the freezer for extra magic for the kids).
LaplandUK has invested an additional £30m into its Cheshire site, which is the second location after a long-standing residency in Ascot.
Keeping this impressive festive event running are more than 2000 members of staff across the two sites.
It’s drawn in some very high-profile guests, too, with previous visitors including the Prince and Princess of Wales, Sir Elton John, and the Beckhams.
The Lapland experience is based on eight best-selling books, written by founders Mike and Alison Battle.
LaplandUK will run from 7 November to 24 December 2026, with tickets ranging from £60 to £195.
Tickets for LaplandUK Manchester go on sale from 10am on Friday 27 March HERE, with the waiting room open from 9am.
How and where to recycle or donate your Christmas tree in Manchester | 2026
Emily Sergeant
The new year is here, and the ’12 days of Christmas’ are up… which means it’s time for a fresh start.
Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve both feel like things of the past now, and for most of us, this is our first proper week back at work too, which means (if you haven’t already) it’s time to tackle the task of taking down and putting away all the festive decorations – even if it is one of the dullest times of the year and it signals that the magic of Christmas is over.
For those of us that opt for a real Christmas tree though, the end of the year always brings one question – now what do we do with it?
Manchester City Council has aimed to answer that very question by providing residents with a handful of different ways to recycle their Christmas trees to make sure they’re put to good use and don’t go to waste or get dumped.
Here’s the different options.
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Recycle it in your food and garden waste bin
You can recycle your Christmas tree by cutting it up and placing it in your food and garden waste bin, but you’ll need to make sure you take the following steps before doing so.
Remove all decorations and fairy lights
Take off the base or wooden block if your tree has one
Make sure the trunk is not thicker than your wrist. Wood thicker than your wrist is too big and can’t be put in the garden and food bin. Large trunks and wooden bases can be taken to a recycling centre.
Donate it to charity
Did you know you can donate your Christmas trees to charity? That’s right – for residents living in Manchester, all you’ll need to do is register your tree with national charity JustHelping, along with a donation towards the collection, and you can help a local hospice or charitable cause in the city-region.
The money raised will go to good causes in the area, including Moya Cole Hospice (previously St Anne’s Hospice), Francis House, and We Love Manchester.
You can find more information and register your tree here.
It’s time to take down and recycle our Christmas trees for another year / Credit: Myriam Olmz | Tanbir Mahmud (via Unsplash)
Take it to a local drop-off point
You can drop your real tree throughout January at:
Angel Meadow Park (entrance Old Mount Street) – M4 4HA
Wythenshawe Park and Gardens Athletics Track – M23 0PH
Heaton Park (Middleton Road entrance) – M8 4NB
Boggart Hole Clough (near the Visitor Centre) – M9 7DH
Patchett Street, off Hyde Road in Ardwick – M12 4RY
Bring it to your local recycling centres
And finally, wherever you live in Manchester, you can take your real Christmas tree – and even your artificial tree that is beyond reuse – to your local recycling centre for free of charge, but it’s worth noting that if you’re planning on using a van, pick-up truck, or a twin-axle trailer to dispose of your tree, then you’ll probably need to apply for a permit.
You can find information about your nearest recycling centre here.
Are you elsewhere in Greater Manchester? Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) has teamed up with local councils and charities across the region to provide Greater Manchester residents in all 10 boroughs with several different options for either recycling or donate their old Christmas trees.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd October 2025 
