What date do the Manchester Christmas Markets open?

The ten Christmas Market sites on the map open together on Friday 6 November 2026. Eight of them close on Tuesday 22 December, while Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens stay open until Sunday 3 January 2027, with both sites closed on Christmas Day. Manchester City Council, which runs the markets, has confirmed the 2026 season.

There is no staggered start. The ten sites are parts of one city-centre event, and every one of them begins trading on the same Friday: Albert Square in front of the Town Hall, Exchange Square, Cathedral Gardens, St Ann's Square, Market Street, King Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Street, Corn Exchange and Lincoln Square, a new location for 2026 off Brazennose Street. From that first day each site trades daily until the end of its run.

The difference between the sites lies in the closing date. The main run lasts until 22 December, and only two sites, the Albert Square market and the Cathedral Gardens site with the Skate Manchester ice rink, carry on through Christmas and into January. The Christmas Markets in Manchester are described site by site, with what each one sells and where it stands.

The Christmas Market Manchester calendar for 2026, in the order of the numbered map, with the first and last trading day of each site:

The numbers in the first column match the Manchester Christmas Market map. Every site trades on each day of its run; the only closed day inside a run is Christmas Day at Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens.

The same 2026 dates appear on the Manchester City Council overview of the Christmas Markets and on the Visit Manchester listing for the Manchester Christmas Markets.

Eight sites end their season on Tuesday 22 December 2026: Exchange Square, St Ann's Square, Market Street, King Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Street, Corn Exchange and Lincoln Square. That is their last trading day, and none of them reopens after Christmas.

Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens are the two sites that stay open beyond 22 December. They trade on Christmas Eve, are closed on Christmas Day and reopen on 26 December, then stay open over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day until Sunday 3 January 2027, the last day of the season. Skate Manchester, the undercover ice rink inside the Cathedral Gardens site, runs from 6 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.

The 2025 season followed a very similar pattern. The markets opened on Friday 7 November 2025, one day later in the calendar than the 2026 opening, and most sites closed on 22 December 2025, the same closing date as in 2026. Albert Square stayed open through Christmas and into the new year until 4 January 2026, and so did Skate Manchester and the stalls beside it at Cathedral Gardens.

In 2026 the extended run again covers Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens, and it ends on Sunday 3 January 2027, one day earlier in the calendar than in 2025. In both seasons the opening fell on a Friday in the first week of November, and the main closing date came three days before Christmas.