Manchester Day 2026 LIVE as huge parade to take place in the city

Manchester Day returns today in a colourful celebration of the city with a host of free family-friendly events taking place. Events kick off from 12 noon across Manchester’s civic squares, before the grand parade which will snake through the city centre’s streets from 1pm.

This year there will be a Catalan twist, to celebrate the city’s cultural ties with Barcelona. Manchester Day has become a huge event in the city ever since it was first launched in 2010.

The parade may be the centrepiece of the day, but there’s lots more happening to with roaming performers, musical performances and free activities across Sunday in the city centre. The main focus of activities will be on St Peter’s Square, Albert Square, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Square, Brazennose Street and Lincoln Square.

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Indeed, the event will be the first time Albert Square has been in use for Manchester Day since the Grade I Town Hall was closed for restoration in 2018. The square will also host the all-singing and dancing finale taking place here at 4.35pm to 5pm.

We will be bringing you live updates from the events across the city, including a full live stream of the event’s centrepiece – the grand parade at 1pm.

The parade will include a host of performers from Spain, in a collaboration follows Manchester’s role as guest city at last year’s iconic La Mercè festival in Barcelona, the first-ever English guest city chosen by Barcelona officials to take part in the annual event.

There will be over 550 performers on the parade, which will feature 25 community groups from across the city and beyond all celebrating Manchester’s rich cultural heritage.

Led by Manchester’s giant-sized Queen Bee and Worker Bee, the parade will also include giant puppets – the gegants – on their first ever trip outside of Spain, as well as bold costumes inspired by Catalan tradition.

Inspired also by this year’s National Year of Reading, expect plenty of nods to famous books in the parade too.