Manchester Christmas Parade 2024 date, time and route as full details are confirmed for festive event
Full details have been confirmed for this year’s Manchester Christmas Parade.
The now annual event - which started in 2022 - returns on Sunday, December 8 at 1pm with a new, longer route starting and ending at Manchester Cathedral.
More than 400 participants are set to spread festive joy through the city centre with live music and colourful dancers at every turn. Manchester's very own Elf Express - a spectacular train with carriages full of elves - will also be on show.
Look out too for the mistletoe dancing mice, Christmas horse-riding elves on stilts, an oversized polar bear with playful giant paws and Christmas robins, or the Aurora Borealis stilt walkers, robot drummers and toe-tapping hip hop elf.
There’s also Ski Sunday, with segway skiers blasting out Christmas classics in retro gear, a singalong with piano man Elton Wrong and the return of the Snow Queen as her giant globe rides through the streets.
Councillor Pat Karney, Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council, said: "Everyone knows that Manchester is the place to be at Christmas and our unmissable, fabulous Christmas Parade promises even more this year of all the festive flair and fun you'd expect from Santa's favourite city.
"Santa's been spoken to - and is definitely coming - the reindeers are on standby, and we can't wait for everyone to join us for what promises to be the Manchester Christmas Parade of the century. It'll be a cracker.”
What is the route for the Christmas Parade?
Starting at 1pm, the longer route than previous years starts and ends at Manchester Cathedral. The parade will move as follows Manchester Cathedral - Victoria Street - Deansgate - John Dalton Street - Cross Street - Market Street - St Mary's Gate - Deansgate - Victoria Street - Manchester Cathedral.