"It will certainly be a busy weekend" - gig-goers urged to plan travel for Parklife in Manchester

Manchester's biggest music festival takes place at Heaton Park on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June. This kicks off the summer season of gigs as Oasis is set to take centre stage in July.

Around 110,000 people are expected to make the journey to see Parklife headliners 50 Cent and Charli XCX.

Festival-goers are being encouraged to plan ahead, use trams and dedicated shuttle bus services to get to and from Heaton Park.

Key travel and ticket advice for getting to Parklife – and general travel advice for the busy weekend – is available now at beenetwork.com/getting-to-parklife.

Transport for Greater Manchester now have a Parklife travel pass for use on any Bee Network tram or bus, and shuttle buses direct to festival site, available exclusively on the Bee Network app.

Transport for Greater Manchester have issued some key advice, which includes:

• “There will be frequent tram services running direct to Heaton Park every six minutes from Victoria tram stop. Both Heaton Park and Bowker Vale stops are then just minutes from the festival gates.
• Parklife shuttle buses will run from Lever Street in the Northern Quarter from mid-morning to last bus at 4.30pm, with drop off right inside the festival site.
• After the event, returning trams will run from Bowker Vale stop to the city centre until 1.30am, with Heaton Park stop closing at 9pm. Last services from Bowker Vale to Bury will run at 00.46 on Saturday and 00.44 on Sunday. Return shuttle buses to Manchester will run from inside the park in a temporary bus station, until the site is clear.
• The easiest way to pay for travel is to pre-purchase the Parklife travel ticket now on the Bee Network app: covering travel on any Greater Manchester Bee Network tram, bus and Parklife shuttlebus services with just one mobile ticket (Saturday only: £8, Sunday only: £8, weekend ticket £14.95). No other tickets will be accepted on shuttle bus services.
• For a more active journey, there are cycling parking spaces in the main festival car park and a well signposted walking route along Bury New Road to the festival. To avoid tram and bus queues after the last acts and take the hour-long walk into the city centre, leave through the East Gate and turn right out of the park.”

Passengers are reminded that no trams are running from Piccadilly Station to city centre stops due to essential track improvement works.

Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “Anyone travelling at the weekend can expect roads and public transport be busier than usual, with events at the Co-op Live (Jeff Dunham on Saturday 14 June and Chris Brown on Sunday 15 June) and the return of Soccer Aid at Old Trafford on Sunday. Road closures will be in place around Heaton Park.”

Extra staff and TravelSafe Support Officers will be out and about across the transport network to help passengers throughout the weekend.

Danny Vaughan, Chief Network Officer at TfGM, said: “We’re ready to keep people moving as we look forward to a busy summer of festivals, concerts, sports and more across Greater Manchester.This kicks off with Parklife and we want to make sure everyone has a great time and gets around easily and safely.”

He said: “For no-fuss travel to the festival it’s best to buy a combined travel ticket through the Bee Network app now and rest easy knowing you can catch any tram, bus or shuttle bus that suits you.It will certainly be a busy weekend with events across the city, and road closures around Heaton Park. While there will be more frequent services and later running trams between Victoria Station and Parklife, there are also some changes to service patterns on Metrolink due to tram improvement works in the city centre.”

Adding: “So, for everyone looking to get out and about over the weekend, please plan ahead, check the Bee Network app for travel updates on the day and have a safe journey.”