

19 of the biggest queues in Manchester’s history including for Sir Alex Ferguson and Britain’s Got Talent
Here are some of the biggest queues Manchester has ever seen at events and happenings over the years.
The British love a good queue, so much so that they have even made headlines in recent years – from queuing for pasta and toilet roll at supermarkets during the pandemic to paying our respects to the late Queen Elizabeth.
Walking through Manchester, you are bound to come across one. Queues can often be spotted outside popular brunch spot Ezra & Gill, for example, or outside the Academy, where fans will camp out before gigs. Most recently, it was Manchester Museum attracting impressive queues following its much-anticipated reopening last month. And there have of course been serious occasions where Mancunians have poignantly queued up out of respect.
Here are some of the times when massive queues have lined the streets of Manchester.

1. Palace Theatre box office
Fans queue outside the Palace Theatre box office for tickets to see American actor, comedian, singer and dancer Danny Kaye on tour in 1949. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

2. ‘Rock Around the Clock’ at the Gaiety Cinema
Fans queue outside the Gaiety Cinema to see ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ starring American rock and roll band Bill Haley and His Comets in 1956. The theatre was demolished in 1959 but there is now a blue plaque marking where it once stood on the corner of Peter Street and Mount Street. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

3. Old Trafford Megastore
United fans queue at the Old Trafford Megastore in 2022, the year Nike began manufacturing the team’s kit. (Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

4. Britain’s Got Talent auditions
Contestants queue outside The Lowry in 2015 to take part in Britian’s Got Talent and meet the celebrity judges. (Photo by Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images)