What's on in Manchester, United Kingdom through the year

Peak crowds — Football season, Warehouse Project season

• Festival

  Chinese New Year

  14–15 FebLunar New YearCrowded

  The dragon parade weaves from Oxford Road through the city to Chinatown on the nearest Sunday, with a weekend of food stalls, lanterns and performances around it. One of the UK's largest Lunar New Year festivals. Source ↗

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May), Warehouse Project season (15 Sep – 5 Jan (usually))

Peak crowds — Chinese New Year, Football season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Chinese New Year (14–15 Feb), Football season (15 Aug – 25 May)

Busy — Football season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May)

Peak crowds — Manchester Marathon, Football season

• Festival

  Manchester Marathon

  5–25 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalClosuresCrowded

  Around thirty thousand runners on a Sunday in April, on a flat loop out through Trafford and back. The tram line to Old Trafford and the roads either side of it close for the morning. Source ↗

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May)

Peak crowds — Great Manchester Run, Football season

• Festival

  Great Manchester Run

  10–31 May · usuallyMajor festivalClosuresCrowded

  Britain's biggest ten-kilometre road race, run through the centre and Salford on a Sunday in May with a half marathon on the same morning. Deansgate and the inner ring shut from dawn. Source ↗

• Festival

  Whit Friday band contests

  15 May – 20 Jun · usuallyMajor festival

  Brass bands play their way round the Saddleworth and Tameside villages in one evening, contest to contest, until well past midnight. It is free, chaotic and entirely local. Source ↗

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May)

Peak crowds — Parklife, Late-May half-term in United Kingdom

• Festival

  Parklife

  20–21 JunMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A weekend in Heaton Park in June and the biggest thing in the city's calendar for anyone under thirty. The trams north are a crush in both directions and central rooms go early. Source ↗

• Festival

  Manchester International Festival

  25 Jun – 20 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalBook early

  Three weeks of newly commissioned work staged across the city, held every second year in odd-numbered ones (MIF25 was the last, next in 2027) and run out of the Aviva Studios building on the old Granada site. Central beds go with the programme. Source ↗

Still on: Whit Friday band contests (15 May – 20 Jun (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in United Kingdom, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Manchester International Festival (25 Jun – 20 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Football season, Manchester Pride

• Season

  Football season

  15 Aug – 25 MayCrowded

  From August to late May there is a home fixture at Old Trafford or the Etihad most weekends, and the city's hotel prices and trains follow the fixture list. Check it before you fix a date. Source ↗

• Festival

  Manchester Pride

  20 Aug – 1 Sep · usuallyCrowded

  The August bank holiday weekend, with the Gay Village fenced and ticketed and a free parade through the centre. It is the busiest weekend of the year in town. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Football season, Manchester Pride

• Opening

  Warehouse Project season

  15 Sep – 5 Jan · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  The club season runs from late September to New Year in a warehouse that changes address every few years. For a lot of visitors it is the reason to come in November rather than June. Source ↗

• Festival

  Food and Drink Festival

  20 Sep – 10 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Ten days of markets and pop-ups around Cathedral Gardens and the Northern Quarter at the turn of September into October, which is when the city's restaurants put themselves on the street. Source ↗

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May), Manchester Pride (20 Aug – 1 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Football season, Warehouse Project season

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May), Warehouse Project season (15 Sep – 5 Jan (usually)), Food and Drink Festival (20 Sep – 10 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Football season, Warehouse Project season

• Festival

  Christmas markets

  7 Nov – 22 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Stalls spread across Albert Square, Piccadilly Gardens and half a dozen smaller sites from early November. They close before Christmas Eve, not after it, which catches people out. Source ↗

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May), Warehouse Project season (15 Sep – 5 Jan (usually))

Peak crowds — Football season, Warehouse Project season

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Football season (15 Aug – 25 May), Warehouse Project season (15 Sep – 5 Jan (usually)), Christmas markets (7 Nov – 22 Dec (usually))