Manchester Day

Sunday 26 July 2026

¡Hola! Manchester - get ready for colour, creativity and a Catalan twist as our city comes together for this year's edition of Manchester Day.

Manchester Day will celebrate our city’s cultural links with Barcelona. Following Manchester’s appearance at Barcelona’s La Mercè festival in 2025, artists from the city will return the visit. For the first time, international talent will bring high‑energy performances and a taste of Catalan culture to Manchester.

At the heart of the day is the Manchester Day Parade which will take place from 1pm.

Travelling on Sunday? we've provided some travel advice below to help you continue your journey.

Event information

This year sees the return of the much-loved mini Manchester Day Parade - which for 2026 will have a decidedly bookish theme, taking inspiration from the current year-long national celebration of books and reading.

The mini parade leaves St Peter's Square at 1pm, travelling along Peter Street to Deansgate, then along the length of Deansgate before ending at the Cathedral at approximately 2pm.

Travel by tram

On the day, trams will operate every 15 minutes on the following service pattern due to planned works taking place:

Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne
Victoria – Etihad Campus
Rochdale Town Centre – Victoria
East Didsbury – Firswood
Manchester Airport – Firswood

There’ll be a 7.5-minute service between Victoria and Piccadilly to help people transfer between trams and replacement buses.

Replacement bus routes

Altrincham – Piccadilly
Chorlton – Piccadilly (via Firswood as trams from East Didsbury and Manchester Airport will terminate at Firswood)
Eccles – Piccadilly
The Trafford Centre – Piccadilly

Replacement buses will depart from Whitworth Street and Aytoun Street at Piccadilly.

For more travel advice and replacement bus info, please visit our dedicated webpage

If you have to drive, did you know that there are 24 park and ride sites in Greater Manchester, where you can park your car for free and hop on the tram to your destination? You can board a tram to the city centre from the below park and ride sites:

Beat the queue at the machines and tap-in and out at the on-stop machines using contactless.

Save money and travel with the family using our family travelcard. Remember, this is only available on the on-stop ticket machines.

City centres tram stops are located in Zone 1. A 1-day off-peak travelcard in Manchester city centre starts from £1.90 for an adult or £3.60 for a family in zone 1 or any one zone. Further information can be found on our tram ticket price webpage.

Alternatively, why not download the Bee Network app now to plan your journey, get live departure times and buy your bus and tram tickets? You can also track buses and rate your journey.

Hopping on a tram replacement bus as part of your journey?

During tram improvement works, you still need to pay for your journey. Tickets cannot be purchased from a driver on a tram replacement bus, however you can still purchase these on stop, or tap in/out as normal at a tram stop before boarding the replacement bus.

Any tram ticket valid for all the zones of your journey is also valid on a tram replacement bus.
1-day Bee Bus tickets (adult, child, family) are also valid on tram replacement buses.

Travel by bus

Road closures will be in place to allow the parade to take place safely. As a result, bus services operating to or from Piccadilly Gardens may operate on diversion and experience delays.

Please visit our travel alerts hub for details on bus diversions or delays in place for this event.

Simply search your bus service number to see if your route is affected.

Travel by train

Manchester Oxford Road or Manchester Victoria train station will be closest to the parade route. In addition, from Piccadilly, you can walk or connect with Metrolink trams to take you to Market Street/Shudehill.

The following planned engineering works will take place on parts of the rail network over the course of the day:

Salford Central Train Station will be closed as engineering works taking place nearby. Trains will still be able pass through as normal.
Engineering work will also take place between Stalybridge and Mirfield and also between Huddersfield and Lockwood, closing some lines. Train will run to an amended timetable on the following routes: Manchester Victoria - Todmorden, Manchester Victoria - Leeds via Bradford Interchange, Halifax - Leeds (via Dewsbury)

Remember to plan your journey in advance of your trip by checking with your operator or on the National Rail website.

Travel by car

To allow safe passage for the procession, road closures will be in place along the route.

Minor delays are expected on the highways close to the route. Please allow more time for your journey.