But there will be a new famous voice directing passengers to the big concerts over the next week
A Manchester rock star has been unveiled as the latest famous face to lend their voice to the Metrolink announcements as major travel warnings have been issued for the next two weeks.
The next two weeks will see the city host a series of big gigs, as well as see the first ever Manchester Village Pride take over the city centre. There will also be two big Premier League games at Manchester’s biggest football stadiums – with over 400,000 expected to descend on the region for the events.
But first up, following in the footsteps of Liam Gallagher, Rita Ora, Tim Burgess, and PinkPantheress before him, Liam Fray from the Courteeners will take on the role of tram announcer as he directs fans to the five big Wythenshawe Park gigs taking place across the next week.
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The Middleton band, who are known for hits like Not Nineteen Forever and No You Didn’t, No You Don’t, will be playing the south Manchester park next Sunday (August 29), where they will be joined by support from Getdown Services, The Coral and Vaccines.
The Cure will kick off the week-long series of shows on Friday night (August 21). Also playing at Wythenshawe Park this weekend will be Lewis Capaldi (August 22), with next weekend’s shows also featuring The Prodigy (August 30) and Pulp (August 31). With the venue’s capacity increasing to 35,000 for each gig, it means up to 175,000 gig-goers are set to descend on south Manchester over the next two weekends.
Fans will be able to hear from Liam on each performance date, with a special set of messages on the day of The Courteeners show. During the announcements, he will be reminding fans that the ‘Metrolink is a solid shout’ for travelling to the park and wishing fans a great night.
Bee Network has said that there will be as many double trams ‘as possible’ running every seven-and-a-half minutes to help fans get to and from the park. In their advice, attendees have been told to travel on the Manchester Airport line and get off at Moor Road tram stop, which is a ten minute walk away from the concert venue.
In addition, there will also be shuttle buses in operation, with city centre services departing from Aytoun Street, close to Manchester Picadilly, every six minutes. There will also be services running from East Didsbury every 15 minutes.
To make it easier, there will be an event travel pass which will cost £8 each day and will be available via the Bee Network app. It will allow ticketholders to use any bus, tram or shuttle bus service on the day bought.
In addition to this weekend’s shows, Sunday (August 23) will see the start of the Premier League with Manchester City playing Ipswich at the Etihad, with 60,000 fans set to flock to the opening game. Next Sunday (August 30), Manchester United will be taking on Ipswich at Old Trafford. In addition, Manchester Village Pride, where tens of thousands will head into the city centre, will be held from Friday (August 28) to Monday (August 31).
Fran Wilkinson, Customer and Growth Director at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “We’re looking forward to helping thousands of people travel to Live from Wythenshawe Park later this month and have put comprehensive plans in place – including a new £8 travel pass – to make it as easy as possible for people to get to and from the concerts.
“Pride and big games at the Etihad and Old Trafford are also coming up over the same weekends as the concerts, so expect it to busy in and around the city centre too.
“We’d encourage everyone to plan ahead, check their travel options before they set off and consider using public transport wherever possible. The Bee Network offers a convenient and affordable way to get to around, helping people spend less time worrying about travel and more time enjoying their event.”
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