Thousands of music fans are set to descend on Manchester over the next two weeks as the city hosts some huge gigs, as well as the first ever Manchester Village Pride. Many people from Merseyside are expected to attend.
Gig schedule and capacity
The Cure will kick off the week-long series of shows tonight, Friday August 21, at Wythenshawe Park, with Lewis Capaldi playing at the south Manchester park tomorrow, Saturday August 22. Next weekend's shows also feature Courteeners, known for hits Not Nineteen Forever and No You Didn't, No You Don't. The Middleton band will be playing on Sunday August 29, joined by support from Getdown Services, The Coral and Vaccines.
The Prodigy will also play on Sunday August 30 and Pulp on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31. With the venue's capacity increasing to 35,000 for each gig, up to 175,000 gig-goers are set to descend on south Manchester over the next two weekends.
Travel warnings and Metrolink announcements
Ahead of the shows, Courteeners' Liam Fray has been unveiled as the latest famous face to lend their voice to the Metrolink announcements. He follows in the footsteps of Liam Gallagher, Rita Ora, Tim Burgess, and PinkPantheress before him, taking on the role of tram announcer as he directs fans to the five big Wythenshawe Park gigs. 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 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. 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.
Shuttle buses and event travel pass
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, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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 be 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."
