MCR XMAS MARKETS | Opens Fri 14 Nov | 10am - 9pm daily
On the go since 1999, the Manchester Christmas Markets spread across nine sites is now the biggest in the UK. According to last year's figures alone, Manchester hosted over 300 stalls and welcomed a record nine million people in. That's nearly four times the entire population of Greater Manchester. Impressive stuff. Just don't bring a pram.
Xmas Markets
JOHN BISHOP SUPERSONIC | Manchester Phones 4U Arena | Fri 14 - Sun 16 Nov | Tickets £30
After taking an eighteen month break from comedy to write his autobiography, Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop is ready to get back to where he feels he belongs – on stage and making people laugh. Bishop's Supersonic show will head to Manchester's Phones 4U Arena as part of a huge new 40 date arena tour of Great Britain & Ireland. It's set to be his biggest and most raucous show yet.
John Bishop is Supersonic
NORTHERN BALLET CINDERELLA | Palace Theatre | Tuesday 18 - Saturday 22 November
Set in Imperial Russia 'at a time when superstitious people believed in the possibility of magic', Northern Ballet’s new adaptation of this classic fairytale sees heartbreak turn to joy as the power of young love conquers all. Aw. The ballet will introduce a new score from Philip Feeney played live by Northern Ballet Sinfonia.
Cinderella
ICE RINKS | Spinningfields, Trafford Centre, MediaCityUK | Open Now
Whether you fancy yourself a Torvill and Dean or not, the season asks that you don your skates, jump on an ice rink and give it a good go anyway. Manchester has three ice rinks running throughout the festive period: The city centre's only ice rink in Spinningfields is now open from 10.30am until 9pm at weekends and 3.10pm to 9pm from Monday to Friday. Other rinks include Selfridges ice rink, Trafford Centre (10am - 10pm) and in Salford Quays, MediaCityUK (Mon - Sun 11am -9pm).
See: Spinningfields, Selfridges Ice Rink, MediaCityUK Ice Rink
We'll give it a go...
MCR In Seven Great Speeches |Tour|Sat 15 Nov|£8|3pm-5pm
This tour visit locations in central Manchester where great speeches were delivered. We surround ourselves with magnificent words from internationally significant figures all of whom made important speeches in the city – eloquent words that caused ripples around the nation and the world. Amongst the orators and personalities you might encounter Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disreali, President Woodrow Wilson, Winston Churchill, Pankhurst family members, John Ruskin, John Bright, Thomas Clarkson, Friedrich Engels, Morrissey, Howard Jacobson, Elizabeth Gaskell, Lydia Becker, Maxine Peake, Les Dawson, Anthony Burgess, and Sir Robert Peel.
Elizabeth Gaskell
MCR CHRISTMAS CRAFTS | Manchester Craft & Design Centre | 17 Oak Street | Sat 22 Nov 2pm-5pm
For Christmas presents with a personal touch, Manchester Craft & Design Centre are launching a Christmas Shopping Event to showcase the work of its resident makers, who create and sell in their own studios on site. On Saturday 22 November (2pm–5pm) they'll be serving up mulled wine, mince pies and staging a performance from the Northern Quarter Boy's Choir - self-professed hairy, beer-drinking songsters who raise money for The Christie charity.
Manchester Craft & Design Centre
HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PT 1. | Various Cinemas | Released Thu 20 November
Fans of the books and lead actress Jennifer Lawrence have been waiting a full year for this one. In Mockingjay Part 1 we'll see Katniss Everdeen in District 13, after she shatters the tyranny of the games. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and with the advice of her inner circle, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage. Expect packed out theatres for this one.
PLAYTIME | Cornerhouse | Sat 22 Nov - Sun 15 Mar
Before the move to HOME in 2015, this final exhibition at Cornerhouse bids farewell to the building and pays homage to the place they've have called home since 1985. To mark the occasion, nine artists present playful, participatory work inspired by Cornerhouse’s iconic brick structure and director Jacques Tati’s 1967 comedy masterpiece Playtime - which follows the adventures of Monsieur Hulot as he wanders, bemused, through a hysterically hyperbolic, modernist Paris.
Cornerhouse (Photo Credit Ben Page)
XOLO | New Wakefield Street | Sat 15 Nov | 11pm - late | Free entry before 12pm, £3 after
New tequila bar by the Black Dog Ballroom group, XOLO, has released its weekly line-up. On Saturday night's resident DJ Kill Suarez (not Branislav Ivanovic) will be playing the very best in pop, hip hop, funk, disco and dance all night twinned with a cocktail menu boasting an extensive tequila collection - you're sure to go Loco.
Xolo
THE WHISKY SESSIONS | Victoria Warehouse | Fri 21 & Sat 22 Nov
A celebration of live music and whisky, what's not to love (unless you dislike whisky, in which case you're still halfway there)? The Victoria Warehouse plays host to the first installment of the festival featuring performances from I Am Kloot, Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy and Little Comets.
I Am Kloot
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S BLACK COFFEE | Opera House | Mon 17 - Sat 29 Nov
In the first play ever written by Agatha Christie we are introduced to a character who went on to become the most famous detective of all time and the only fictional character ever to receive a full-page obituary in the New York Times: Hercule Poirot. Heartbeat's Jason Durr stars in the role of the famous Belgian sleuth.
Agatha Christie's Black Coffee Tickets here
Black Coffee, Opera House
