Last Updated on 9 December 2024 by Colette
Although this is the third year of the Manchester Christmas Parade, it’s the first time we’ve actually made it into town to watch and I’m so glad we did!
The Manchester Christmas Parade is featured on our list of free things to do in Manchester this Christmas.
The parade started at 1pm at the Cathedral with an extended route in comparison to previous years. Having checked out the route ahead of time, I had decided we’d try and watch from somewhere down Deansgate knowing that the starting point of the Cathedral would likely be quite busy.
The girls and I headed down to Deansgate about 12.40pm to find it was absolutely rammed! We set off to follow the route in the hope that we’d find ourselves somewhere to stand and luckily, part way down Deansgate we were able to find a spot at the edge of the road where we could get a fairly good view – though next year I’d make sure we were stood further away from a section of wider pavement which meant that the road was narrower and the crowd blocked our view of the parade coming towards us meaning that Amy, being the smallest, could only see things when they were right in front of us. Not a big problem but definitely something I would consider for next year.
The route this year meant that we could watch the whole parade from Deansgate then whizz through the Barton Arcade, across St Annes Square and onto Cross Street just in time to watch it coming past again! I left the girls to watch whilst I grabbed us all a much needed hot chocolate from Michaels Coffee House in the Royal Exchange Arcade (their seasonal Black Forest hit the spot!)
The parade route was absolutely packed so there was a bit of shuffling and crowd-weaseling to be done at the end which made me glad that my girls are bigger now and I could give them clear instructions on where to meet me if we were separated.
We’ll definitely head into town for the parade again next year and maybe we’ll even drag the boys along with us!
Tips for watching the Manchester Christmas Parade next year
Check out the parade route ahead of time so you can plan where you want to watch it from
Get down early to get a good spot on the edge of the pavement – consider any obstacles to your view of the parade coming towards you
Wrap up warm, you’re going to be stood still for quite a while
Be prepared for pester power – there will be people selling horns, light sticks and so on!
If you watch the parade from Deansgate, you might well find you can nip through to Cross Street in time to watch part (if not all) of the parade again – though you obviously won’t get such a good view as people will have already been waiting there
Be prepared for crowds at the end of the parade as everyone tries to move off at once – this wasn’t so bad as we left Deansgate but Cross Street was absolutely rammed and you could do little more than shuffle in the same direction as the crowd
Have a read of these posts next:
Christmas things to do in Manchester this year
Where to go ice skating in Manchester this Christmas
What to do on New Year’s Eve with the kids in Manchester
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