Halloween in the City 2025

Looking for some fearsome family fun? Halloween in the City is back to haunt Manchester over Halloween weekend, with a petrifying programme of spooky events and activities taking place across Manchester city centre and Manchester turning into a full-blown monstrous playground, running Saturday 25 – Sunday 26 October 2025.

Hosted by the Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District, the festival promises everything from inflatable monster art installations to ghoulish games and (perhaps most terrifying of all) a city-wide fancy dress frenzy. Families, thrill-seekers, and anyone with a penchant for capes are urged to descend upon the city centre for the UK’s biggest Halloween gathering.

Highlights include the return of the legendary MCR Monsters, those supersized inflatable creatures who perch on rooftops looking impressive, alongside family storytelling, interactive games, and the raucous, wonderful Monster Party Procession. Expect puppets, stilt-walkers, live bands, and a sense of organised chaos courtesy of Walk the Plank, inspired by designs from Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas.

Halloween is not Halloween without something slithery. The Leech, an eight-metre-long wriggling creature last seen terrorising Manchester will once again slither its way through the streets, joined by its skeletal clan.

For the first time, the giant MCR Monsters will stick around beyond the weekend, occupying rooftops and landmark buildings from 25–31 October. Locations already set for a monstrous makeover include Manchester Arndale, Selfridges, The Royal Exchange Manchester, KAMPUS, and AO Arena, with more to come.

As dusk falls, expect the city to glow a witchy green as iconic buildings light up, while thousands of pumpkin lanterns line the shopping streets offering the perfect backdrop for your Instagram post!

Manchester: where monsters run wild, pumpkins light the path, and no one blinks at a grown adult in fangs and face paint.