From Stevie Wonder’s 1976 landmark album at Co-op Live to a 1.2-mile Disney light trail, 16 unmissable events happening in and around Manchester this November

The inaugural Manchester Cocktail Festival takes over 21 of the city’s bars for a week of exclusive menus and guest shifts. Venues from Hawksmoor and Speak In Code to the newly opened Bar Dos team up with spirit brands like Bacardi and Diageo to pour curated drink lists, host intimate tasting sessions, and put on one-off dinners.

Guest bartenders run takeovers across the participating spots. To book spaces and order from the festival menus at haunts like Crazy Pedro’s, Double Down, and Science + Industry, you need a digital MCF 26 pass. Beyond the drinks, the event also runs seminars and WSET training for those working in the city’s hospitality trade.

Sleeping Beauty gets a luminous reimagining at the Royal Northern College of Music this November. The immersive ballet production features dancers in custom-built, illuminated costumes that react in real time to every step, turning the stage into a moving canvas of light.

Set to a classical orchestral soundtrack, the 60-minute show traces the traditional fairytale from the princess’s enchanted slumber to her final awakening. Seating is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis within your booked zone, and audiences must arrive 30 minutes prior to showtime as late entry is not permitted.

The People’s History Museum brings the Christmas shopping experience beneath the festoon lights of its striking Edwardian Engine Hall. The historic space transforms into a winter market showcasing over 30 independent local makers, offering everything from neon-drenched prints and delicate crochet to quirky papier-mâché figures.

Alongside the stalls, the Hallé Choir and Magic Voices Choir take to the stage to supply the seasonal soundtrack, while the museum’s café serves up currywurst, fries, and Christmas dinner sandwiches. If you want to skip the weekend rush, a ticketed preview evening runs on Friday with mulled wine, live jazz, and candle-making demonstrations, and you can also book in for interactive cocktail-tasting and festive lino-printing workshops.

Stevie Wonder brings his Songs In The Key of Life 50th-anniversary tour to Manchester’s Co-op Live this November, playing the landmark 1976 album in full. The Manchester date is one of just five across the UK and Ireland on this run of shows. The Grammy-winning record, Wonder’s highest-charting album in the UK, includes tracks like “Sir Duke,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” and “I Wish.”

The Manchester Christmas Markets take over 10 city-centre spots this winter. Albert Square remains the main hub, bringing back the giant Santa to the Town Hall for the first time in nearly a decade, alongside a 50-metre Ferris wheel, a vintage helter-skelter, a pop-up pub, and food spanning from Parisian French toast to charity pastry demos.

Elsewhere, the new Lincoln Square market focuses on international street food with jerk chicken and Korean corn dogs, while St Ann’s Square gets a redesigned layout with extra covered seating. You’ll find the Skate MCR ice rink and mini-fairground games at Cathedral Gardens, plus expanded crafts and carnival games along Market Street. Across King Street, Exchange Square, and New Cathedral Street, stalls pour everything from tap-poured gourmet hot chocolate and glühwein to German beers, next to loaded hash browns and traditional bratwurst from the swing grill.

Step into Halloween Town as you explore a moonlit trail of dazzling lights and iconic characters. Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail will soon transform Arley Hall & Gardens into a 1.2-mile, multi-sensory walkthrough featuring over 1,700 light installations, 3D sculptures and scenes from the film. Coming to the UK for the very first time this autumn, the bewitching experience is now open and is suitable for all ages.

Skate Manchester returns to Cathedral Gardens with its fully covered, weatherproof outdoor ice rink. Sitting right next to the Christmas Markets, the rink features a packed schedule this year, including quiet hours, toddler sessions, and themed nights.

There are plenty of deals on offer, too. Look out for £10 student skate sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, 20% off for locals on Mondays and Tuesdays (using code LCLOVE2026 before December 18), and free skating for kids on selected Tuesdays. New this year, ticket holders can also change their session time up to 24 hours in advance.

The Streets are rounding off their 2026 UK stint with a headline slot at The Warehouse Project. Following their summer gig at Castlefield Bowl, Mike Skinner and his band will return to Manchester to play their landmark album, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, in full one last time.

The November gig focuses entirely on the album, running from opening track “It Was Supposed To Be So Easy” right through to “Empty Cans,” taking in classics like “Blinded By The Lights” and “Fit But You Know It” along the way. This is the first year the narrative album has ever been played live from start to finish.

Step into an interactive courtroom drama where the verdict is entirely in your hands. In this 60-minute immersive trial, a driverless car has caused a fatal accident, and you are part of the jury tasked with determining who is responsible: the code’s programmer, the passenger, or the AI itself.

Throughout the performance, you listen to testimonies, examine the evidence, and spot contradictions as the case twists and turns. At key moments, the audience votes on the proceedings, leading up to the final decision of guilty or not guilty.

After a three-year break, the underground festive pop-up Miracle on Cross Street is back. Set in the subterranean space beneath Salt Dog Slims (which will relaunch as late-night lounge MDNT in the new year), the bar is going all out with nostalgic decorations and light displays.

Your £20 ticket gets you a welcome festive cocktail, a Christmas goody bag, and access to all the free mince pies and Quality Street you can eat while you’re there. On your way out, you’ll also be handed a scratch card to take upstairs to Salt Dog Slims, with prizes ranging from free shots and hot dogs to a £500 cash reward.

The Night Market takes over the ground floor of Manchester’s Grade II* listed Gorton Monastery for a one-night winter pop-up. Over a hundred independent traders set up shop across the Cloisters and the Great Nave, selling handcrafted goods beneath the arches of the 19th-century Franciscan friary.

Outside, a lineup of street food vendors serves up hot dishes with plenty of seating. Inside, the Great Nave bar pours festive drinks while the Sanctuary Cafe offers hot alcoholic and alcohol-free options, all set to a live soundtrack by DJ Butho the Warrior. Tickets are available online, with remaining ones sold on the door.

Legally Blonde The Musical heads to the Manchester Opera House this November as part of a UK and Ireland tour. Directed by Nikolai Foster, who recently helmed the sell-out tour of Kinky Boots, the multi-award-winning show brings the iconic story of Elle Woods to the stage.

Based on the 2001 film and the Amanda Browning novel, the musical comedy features original music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. The production follows Elle as she swaps her ‘It Girl’ lifestyle for a stint at Harvard Law School, determined to win back her ex-boyfriend before discovering a talent for the courtroom instead.

The former Debenhams in Wigan’s Grand Arcade reopens this November as STACK Wigan, a 2,000-capacity food hall and events space. The two-floor venue features six street food kitchens, five bars, a coffee shop, a pool table area, and an outdoor terrace. It also houses big screens for sporting events and a live stage for music and performances.

The kitchen lineup includes Pattersons (fried chicken), Acropolis (Greek gyros), ZZA Pizzeria, local favourite Tikka Bros (Indian street food), Smash House, and Hello Oriental. Anyone who signs up to the STACK Wigan mailing list before opening day gets a free drink.

The winter light trail RHS Glow returns to RHS Garden Bridgewater with 40 new installations. This year’s redesigned route expands into previously unlit areas of the grounds, winding through the Middle Wood. Along the way, you can trigger movement-responsive light and sound panels and spot animated nature projections by illustrator Rob Hodgson.

Over on Ellesmere Lake, a fire-breathing Chinese dragon by Walk the Plank sits among glowing lotus flowers, moving to a choreographed soundtrack of light and music. The trail also features a five-metre-high sunrise-to-sunset light display and takes you past the recently added Yangzhou Scholars’ Garden.

The Script hit the road this autumn for a 15-date UK and Ireland arena tour following the August release of their new album, The User’s Guide To Being Human. Supported by James Morrison, the run kicks off in Dublin in late October before bringing the band to Manchester’s Co-op Live in November.