Halloween in the City

Date & Time

Manchester’s city-wide Halloween party. Featuring: MCR Monsters, pumpkin lanterns, themed street zones, DJs, spooky parades, the Monster Music Festival and tonnes of family fun.

Now in its eighth year, event attracts tens of thousands of additional visitors to the city centre.

Halloween in the City is an event by Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District.

The promotional campaign is delivered by Manchester BID/CityCo. We work with Echo PR, Modern Designers, Marketing Manchester, Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester on the media campaign.

Festival Zone: Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street, St Ann’s Square and Manchester Arndale

We annually welcome numerous participants, suppliers, CityCo/BID and wider city businesses as part of the show. To get involved, please email events@cityco.com

2023 Event

  • Rooftop #MCRMonsters
  • Walk the Plank’s Monster Party Procession
  • Monsters Rock! Music Festival
  • Trick v Treat Games
  • Fancy Dress Challenge

2023 Headlines

Footfall

  • City centre welcomed a quarter of a million visitors over Halloween in the City weekend
  • Footfall up by 40,000 compared to 2022 event
  • Shopping streets given an extra boost with footfall up vs 2022, Market Street (+24%) and New Cathedral Street (+20%)

Press

  • £873,000 of local, regional and national press coverage, including; The Times, Sunday Times, i Paper, Edinburgh Evening News, BBC North West, BBC Sounds, Manchester Evening News, City Life, Place North West, Visit Manchester, The Manc, Manchester’s Finest, Secret Manchester and I Love Manchester.
  • Click here to view the press coverage report.

Digital Campaign Results

  • 253,000 page views across Halloween in the City campaign content, with over 140,000 page views to the campaign page alone
  • 5,800 downloads of the visitor map and guide
  • Over 1 million paid digital impressions across Google, Facebook and Instagram, and 33,000 clicks to the website landing page
  • 292,000 organic social media impressions
  • 15,500 emails delivered to Visit Manchester’s UK leisure database containing Halloween in the City content, average open rate 43.44%

Follow the Event Online

www.halloweenmcr.com
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @HalloweenMCR

Get Involved in 2024

Manchester BID will host the UK’s largest urban Halloween celebrations in October. Expect our now-famous MCR Monsters, pumpkin lantern decorations, parades and a weekend full of family entertainment.

The event annually attracts thousands of people into the city centre. Take part to make the most of the extra customers, and positive PR. 

  1. Join in celebrations. Host a special Halloween event, stage entertainment, decorate windows, dress-up, showcase themed products and experiences
  2. Sponsor a MCR Monster. Be part of the UK’s biggest inflatable art trail by hosting one of our famous PR-attracting Monsters
  3. Sponsor the event. Become an official event partner to support Halloween in the City and raise your company profile. There are opportunities to suit every business
  4. Share activities with the BID team. Be featured in the multi-channel marketing and PR campaign with our promotional partners

 Let us know if you will be taking part: email info@manchesterbid.com