Christmas events will return to Manchester's Albert Square after years of exile for town hall refurb

Albert Square was historically the centrepiece of Manchester’s Christmas Markets, faithfully watched over by a giant inflatable Father Christmas attached to the town hall. But both ‘Zippy’ and the markets left the area after the 2019 event, when the ongoing refurbishment forced festivities away from the area.

Initially, it was hoped to have the restoration complete by 2024, but delays and the discovery of a multitude of problems inside the grade-I listed Gothic gem mean work is now expected to finish in August 2026 — and cost £76m more.

However, council bosses have decided to ‘resequence and accelerate’ works to Albert Square, which will be enlarged and fully pedestrianised, so Christmas events can take place sooner than expected this year.

“We know Mancunians and visitors alike are looking forward to having their town hall and their civic square back and better than ever and it’s great that we can now look ahead to that,” said deputy council leader Garry Bridges.

While Coun Bridges confirmed a ‘festive attraction’ will be in place for winter 2025, exact details are set to be announced later in the year. However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands market stalls are being considered as part of the events.

“We are developing a civic square to rival the best in Europe and it will be exciting to see it pilot Christmas events this year ahead of a full permanent opening next year,” Coun Bridges went on.

“We look forward over the course of this year to announcing more details about Christmas in Albert Square and how people in Manchester can help us celebrate the reopening of their magnificent town hall. We’ve overcome so many challenges to get to this point and while the unique nature of the project is such that some inevitably still remain, we believe the end result will be something special.”

It was also confirmed today the council is planning a formal reopening ceremony of the town hall and square to ‘run up to and including September 2027’, to ‘mark the 150th anniversary of the building’s original opening’.