Manchester's Christmas market to be 'bigger and better'

Manchester's Christmas market is to expand this year, with more than 200 stalls and two large marquees, when it returns to the city in November, the council says.

Councillor Pat Karney, who is Manchester City Council's Christmas spokesperson, said the heated marquees in Piccadilly Gardens would include food and drink and live music and would be a "major attraction".

Karney told BBC Radio Manchester the city's festivities would also include a fireworks display in the new year, although details of where this was happening had not yet been announced.

He confirmed there would not, however, be a Christmas lights switch-on this year, due to Albert Square "being out of action" as restoration work on the town hall continued.

The lights switch-on has not taken place since 2019 when it was halted due to Covid.

The city's festive market, said by Karney to be "much bigger and better" this year, returns on Friday 8 November and will be open daily over seven weekends until Sunday 22 December.

It will involve wooden ski chalet-style stalls in nine locations across the city, in addition to the marquees in the Winter Gardens.

Speaking about concerns raised in the past about the cost of some of the products at the Christmas market, the councillor said they were urging stallholders to keep their prices down.

"We try our best and we give that message to all the traders but everything in the world has got expensive, as we all know, but we check on anything that we think is out of the ordinary or outrageous and we do put that message to them," he said.

"The atmosphere is unbeatable and we don't charge anything for the atmosphere," he added.

Manchester has had a Christmas market since 1998, with the council saying it has brought millions of people into the city over the years.

The city's festivities will also include a Christmas parade, but no date has yet been announced.