We’re into another week of the month of madness that is October and there’s still 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.
The pumpkins are still here, in case you missed them.
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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.
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.
Classic horror movies, petrifying live performers and a tunnel of doom, ScareCity at Park N Party is the ultimate Halloween event. ? ? Tickets and times here ? http://bit.ly/ScareCity
Scare City is officially in full swing and it’s not for the faint hearted.
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.
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From the comfort of your own car this week, you can watch films including The Conjuring & The Conjuring 2, the full Annabelle franchise, Insidious, The Nun and The Exorcist for the brave, or Hocus Pocus, Coraline and Monster House if you’d rather keep your wits about you.
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.
You can reserve your spot at Scare City online now via Eventbrite.
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Levy Fringe Festival
Levenshulme
Thursday 22nd – Saturday 31st October
Levy Fringe Festival
The popular Levy Fringe Festival is still going ahead this month.
With a full programme of virtual and in-person events being hosted, organisers have confirmed an exciting mixture of performances, gallery exhibitions and lectures across a packed nine-day programme, and it features a combination of local talent and nationwide stars. There’ll be lectures covering subjects from the environment to horror, exhibits that tell our local lockdown stories, and lots of surprise pop-ups from Circus, Strings and Drag Story-Time.
Events are being streamed by YouTube or Zoom, but audiences are required to adhere to government COVID-19 guidelines for those that are ‘in person’.
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You can find more information about Levy Fringe Festival ahead of your visit here.
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Black History Month Family Trail
National Football Museum
Tuesday 20th – Sunday 25th October
National Football Museum
October is Black History Month, so Kick It Out and the National Football Museum have worked together to create a new family trail.
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This free trail will guide you round some important moments in football history and challenge you to answer questions around equality and inclusion. You are also encouraged to look out for the HH Prince Hassan Pacha Challenge Trophy on display to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of pioneering black football and athlete Arthur Wharton.
Wharton was most known for setting a world record for the 100 yard dash in 1886 and athletes still compete for the same trophy today.
Entry to the trail must be booked in advance due to coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines.
You can book your tickets and timeslot, and find more information ahead of your visit via the National Football Museum website here.
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Adult LEGO Night
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Trafford
Thursday 22nd October
This is your chance to release your inner child.
Adult LEGO Nights give all the big kids over the age of 18 the chance to head to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at Barton Square for a night of “LEGO fuelled fun” and this month will have a Halloween twist with “spooky games and devilish challenges.”
All abilities are welcome and there’s no need to be a LEGO expert to have fun, so you can take part in as much or as little as you like.
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All of this COVID-safe action and more is included within the price of an admission ticket too.
Totally Gruesome is a 100% socially distanced and COVID-safe Halloween attraction aimed at Primary School-aged children in Ashton-under-Lyne..
In your pre-booked time slot, you’ll get five minutes to spend in each of the 10 themed rooms – which range from ‘Spiders Cave’ and ‘Clown Graveyard’, to ‘Egyptian Tomb’ and ‘Witches Forest’ – to crack the code. Follow the clues to uncover a letter of the alphabet in each themed room and once you have all the letters, you can then solve the anagram to be entered into the weekly sweetie prize draw.
It’s basically a kids version of break-out rooms, crossed with the crystal maze.
Tickets are priced at £7 each.
You can discover more information about the event and book your tickets here.
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Where’s Wally? Spooky Museum Search
People’s History Museum
Tuesday 22nd – Sunday 25th October
People’s History Museum
You’re never too old for ‘Where’s Wally?’
And now you can join the search for Wally with your family at the People’s History Museum this week as part of the national Where’s Wally? Spooky Museum Search, which has been organised by Kids in Museums and Walker Books to celebrate the release of the new Where’s Wally? book, Spooky Spotlight Search.
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You’ll get to take away and activity sheet and spooky bookmark if you find Wally.
This is a completely COVID-safe, family-friendly activity that’s suitable for all ages, and no advance booking is required, you you can just drop in on the day.
More information can be found via the People’s History Museum website here.
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Escape to Freight Island
Depot Mayfield
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Wednesday 21st – Sunday 25th October
Escape to Freight Island
As always, there’s plenty going on at Escape to Freight Island this week.
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 Lena C on Wednesday, Rich Reason on Thursday, a special showing by ALFOS – A Love From Outer Space on Friday, Golden Lion will be taking over on Saturday, and finally From Manchester With Love & Amuse Bouche 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.
Everyone’s favourite “part time pizza parlour” Crazy Pedro’s has announced that it’s now offering bottomless pizza and booze every weekend.
Yes, you heard that right.
When you book your slot between 11am – 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays only, you’ll get 90 minutes of unlimited slices of pizza, beer, Prosecco and Frozen Margs.
All of that can be yours to tuck into for just £25 per person too.
You can find more information about booking your 90-minute ‘brunch’ slot here.
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Bottomless Sunday Roast w/ Your Dog
Peru Perdu, Princess Street
Sunday 25th October
Peru Perdu
What’s better Sunday Roast at the weekend?
A Sunday Roast that comes with the option for bottomless Bloody Marys, obviously.
Manchester’s South American all day dining concept Peru Perdu is looking to “make Sundays great again” by serving up dishes packed full of Peruvian flavours. You can tuck into three different roast options, along with a whole host of mouth-watering sides and finished off with a selection of speciality desserts.
And you can bring your dog for their own roast too, which comes with the option of chicken or beef, veg and bone gravy.
All of this can be yours to tuck into from £16 per person every Sunday.
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 3 – 9 February 2025
Emily Sergeant
Who’s ready for another fun-filled week in Manchester?
February is here, the nights are getting lighter, the temperatures a little warmer, and not only does Greater Manchester‘s events calendar already seem very exciting over these next few weeks, but there’s also lots of other things to look forward to in 2025 too, so it’s time to fill up your diaries.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide to help you out.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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PUSH Festival 2025
HOME MCR
Monday 3 January – Saturday 8 February
PUSH Festival 2025 / Credit: HOME MCR
PUSH Festival has return to Manchester for its biennial celebration of North West creative talent.
Set over two weeks, the stages, screens, and spaces down at HOME MCR will be dedicated to showcasing fantastic works from around the region, as well as offering opportunities for creatives to meet industry professionals, share ideas and inspiration and develop their skills.
Freight Island’s Six Nations fanzone has returned for 2025.
The iconic international tournament is now underway, and so is Freight Island’s fantastic fan experience, providing an unparalleled level of excitement beyond being inside the stadium.
Already proving to be even bigger and better than last year, it’s the largest of its kind anywhere in the country, with everything from free pints and prosecco, live music, top-notch scran from Freight’s in-house vendors, and so much more.
A groundbreaking new immersive exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is now open at Manchester Museum.
‘Wild’ look at how people are creating, rebuilding, and repairing connections with nature, and how the natural world has traditionally been presented and idealised through Western art, as well as looking at some unique approaches to environmental recovery too.
The exhibition will also crucially look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis by making the world more wild.
Smash-hit musical Kinky Boots is currently out on a tour of the UK, and the talented cast will be stopping off in our city.
The Broadway and West End phenomenon, which is based on a true story and is an adaptation of a 2005 film of the same name, has become known and loved by musical theatre fans all across the globe, and it will be taking to the iconic Palace Theatre stage this week.
This 2025 revival production is already being billed as “guaranteed to raise you up” and “celebrate everybody’s individuality”.
An all-new musical featuring the music of Dolly Parton is on stage in Manchester this week.
After workin’ 9 to 5, what better way to unwind than with a musical packed with hits spanning the Queen of Country music’s legendary roster? This production sees the story of a diehard fan recounting ways in which Dolly Parton and her hits have helped him throughout his life.
Tricia Paoluccio takes on the role of the international icon, sprinkling her sunshine, knowledge, and wit wherever she goes.
A huge gaming event is happening in Manchester this weekend.
With more than 160 consoles and hundreds of games to play, Power UP at the Science and Industry takes ticket-holders on a journey through five decades of gaming, with everything from retro arcade games, to state-of-the-art virtual reality, and so much more.
Power UP is taking place each weekend only throughout this month, with each ticket including unlimited play all day.
Manchester gem Hello Oriental has finally opened its new Asian food hall at the Trafford Centre.
The renowned East Asian street food hub has chosen the Trafford Centre as the first UK shopping centre location to bring its trademark street food dining concept to, and there’s more than 100 delicious dishes for customers to choose from.
Hello Oriental owners and childhood best friends, Ricky Yip and Azim Kourah, say they have selected some of the most popular dishes from the Manchester city centre site’s extensive menu for the new Trafford Centre restaurant.
This means diners can enjoy traditional dishes from across East Asia, including a wide range of Dim Sum, fluffy baos, Korean fried chicken, and three varieties of sticky chicken wings.
The Christie Charity’s ‘Night of Neon’ 2025 / Credit: The Christie Charity
The Night of Neon charity walk is making its return to light up Salford Quays this weekend to raise money for The Christie Charity.
Always a popular event in the calendar, over 600 enthusiastic participants are set to take to the Quays to have fun, while raising money for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and supporting the thousands of patients who are treated for cancer at The Christie Hospital in Withington.
This luminescent fundraiser will also feature pre-walk entertainment – including a six-piece roaming band, face painting, glitter artists, and so much more.
Brickhouse Social has announced that it 90s-themed brunch is back by popular demand.
The Manchester social hub is inviting music lovers down to enjoy 90-minutes of bottomless pizza slices, fizz, bottled beers, and select cocktails on its ooftop terrace every Saturday over the nexr couple of months – with a resident DJ playing all the best tunes from the nineties.
There’s two brunch sittings available, so you can opt for 1-3pm or 3:30-5:30pm, and you can get booking your table now.
Want to watch the biggest game on the biggest screen?
GRUB is hosting a Super Bowl LIX party this Sunday, and will be showing the game on the biggest screen in the venue, the upstairs cinema CULTPLEX, so if you’re keen to see the Philadelphia Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs, then this is the place to be.
Expect a relaxed environment, big screen fun from 9pm, and special menu from Oscar’s Dogs served between 9pm and 11pm to help you fill your belly for a long night of football action.
Featured Image – Freight Island | The Manc Group | Supplied
What's On
‘The world’s biggest Eurovision festival’ and celebration is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
An absolutely massive Eurovision festival and all-around celebration is coming to Manchester this year ahead of the Finals in Switzerland this May – in fact, it claiming to be the biggest in the world.
Taking place in our city for the first time ever, the official ‘MancHagen Eurovision Party’ is heading to 0161 for the annual festival’s 20th anniversary and it’s promising a huge programme of events, live music, entertainment and, most importantly, it’s all for a good cause.
Kicking off one of the best weekends of the year on Thursday, 10 April, MancHagen has partnered with the Gay Village district and some Canal Street favourites to offer a safe and exciting destination for all eventgoers to meet up.
You can expect live cabaret and singing, drag performers and DJ sets, as well as non-stop partying until the early hours. We cannot wait.
Credit: Silvester Belt via AP Media (supplied)/The Manc Group
The Canal St venues making up ‘Eurovision Village’ include EVA, Iconic Bar, New York New York, The Eagle and Cruz 101, all of which host an exclusive series of Eurovision programming and parties.
For instance, MancHagen’s Official Festival Euroclub opening party will be housed at Cruz 101, with eclectic sets from veteran Eurovision DJ David Horton and friends, followed by a weekend of performances from the likes of Choriza May (RuPaul’s Drag Race) in collaboration with Lady Olé.
Then, on the following Friday (11 April), the first half of the two-day All Stars Concertwill take place at Manchester Arcade Arena, our premier immersive augmented reality venue, from 6pm onwards.
Hosted by the UK’s 2001 Eurovision entrant Lindsay Dracassand Leeds‘ very own ‘Quality Street Queen’, Mamma Bear,the night will showcase Manchester’s leading cultural icons and look back at the thrilling history of the iconic song contest.
With show-stopping performances from the 2025 cohort, previous contestants and more, such as Eurovision 1993 winner, Niamh Kavanagh, Canal St queen Tonya Kneez; Beverly Tight-Lipps, Hera Björk and others, there’s plenty of reason to be excited about MancHagen.
Our interview with Danny BeardCanal Street in full swing during Pride 2024There’ll be plenty of watch parties around Greater Manchester, but a Eurovision Festival warm-up is even better (The Manc Group)
The celebration continues into Saturday (12 April), with an all-day programme at Depot Mayfield, a much-loved multiuse venue and home to The Warehouse Project as well as Europe’s largest indoor LGBTQIA+ celebration, Homobloc.
An exclusiveArtist Yellow Carpet Parade will then spotlight some of the UK’s leading Queer and creative pioneers, including appearances from Manchester’s own Drag icon and MancHagen ambassador Banksie, North West drag icon Danny Beard and more.
And that’s just the day-time: come nightfall, The Depot will transform into a wonderland of fashion, music and performance as the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will take over the room for a never-before-seen competition dubbed ‘Drag-A-Vision 2025’, with the likes of Marmalade, Rilesea Slaves, Alexis Saint-Pete; Charra Tea, Actavia and Chanel O Connor taking to the stage.
Oh, and of course there’s all the after-party action that Gay Village does so well – it is the part of the city that never sleeps, after all…
Besides the obvious excitement and fanfare surrounding this huge Eurovision festival, it is not only a welcome space for people from all walks of life but, above all else, being held for some vital charities.
Working alongside the Ukrainian Cultural Organization and United For You to host this year’s event, donations from each ticket sold will go towards Ukrainian Children and the George House Trust, as well as LGBTQIA+ groups like Sahir House, Manchester Pride and FSTB Danish Children.
The MancHagen co-founders say: “Our team is proud to announce the biggest celebration of Eurovision countries, cultures, fashion, music, dance and the diverse communities together in joy through music…
“There is nowhere more suited to host such an event than the UK’s inclusive capital of Manchester and capital of the North.” Dubbing itself the biggest party celebrating the annual event aside from the competition itself, if you’re a fan of the famous song contest, you don’t want to miss this.
Packages start at just £45, with VIP add-ons, affordable family tickets and VIP Backstage also available. Find out more about the ground-breaking Eurovision Festival and grab tickets for the Manchester celebration right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
16th October 2020 
