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Stockport to host huge vintage fair with market stalls, live music, and classic cars

It's to celebrate 15 years of The Vintage Village.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 14th May 2025

A huge vintage fair is taking over Stockport town centre this summer with market stalls, live music, classic cars, and more.

So Retro Events and Stockport‘s beloved The Vintage Village are joining forces to bring Greater Manchester residents a vintage ‘extravaganza’ next month, with the hall packed to the rafters with vintage stalls selling everything from clothing and homeware, to ceramics, artwork, antiques, vinyl records, and loads more.

Taking over the historic Stockport Market Hall to celebrate 15 years since The Vintage Village opened in the town, fair-goers will also have access to a free vintage styling zone where they can try on loads of outfits and accessories from different decades.

From 50s frocks to 70s jumpsuits, find your style and grab a photo in your retro gear.

You’ll also have the opportunity to have your hair authentically-styled by The Vintage Beauty Parlour on the day too, so if you’ve always fancied a victory roll or kiss curl, then is is your chance.

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Once you’ve browsed the vintage delights of the stalls and been styled to perfection, you can hop on a vintage bus for a free ride around Stockport town centre, thanks to Belle Vue Coaches, and if that’s not enough entertainment for one day, then outside the Market Hall, there’s live music from all-female vocal harmony group The Villanelles.

Plus, there’ll be classic cars and scooters to ogle at throughout the day, and Stockport-based dance school Revolution Dance will be jiving away and hosting a free dance class in the afternoon too.

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Stockport is hosting a huge vintage fair with market stalls, live music, and classic cars / Credit: So Retro Events

So Retro Events founder, Michelle Barratt, says she is delighted to be collaborating on this event to celebrate The Village Vintage’s milestone birthday.

“I used to attend The Vintage Village as a customer,” says Michelle. “I love what [they have] created and it inspired me to start So Retro, so it’s fantastic that we can now work together and create a huge celebration of vintage at the incredible building that is Stockport Market Hall.”

Read more:

So Retro x The Vintage Village is taking over Stockport Market Hall next month on Sunday 15 June from 10am through to 4pm, and tickets cost £3 on the door – with under 12s going free.

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Find out more here.

Featured Image – Perry Merrity (via Unsplash)

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Great Manchester Run guide 2025 – everything you need to know

Danny Jones Danny Jones Great Manchester Run guide 2025

The AJ Bell Great Manchester Run returns this month, and with more spectators and people taking part than ever, we thought it’d be handy to put together another little event guide for you.

Whether you’re running it or cheering your friends, family and complete strangers from the sidelines, it’s set to be a massive day that involves a lot of planning and logistics, so we’ll help however we can.

You only have to see the months of time and effort that went into making this year’s Manchester Marathon the incredible success that it was, and the Great Run Company are no different.

So, without further ado, here’s all the important information you need to know ahead of the 2025 Great Manchester Run.

2025 Great Manchester Run guide – all the key info

What is the Great Manchester Run route this year?

Where else better to start than with this year’s Great Manchester Run? Anyone who’s coming back for more will be glad to hear that it remains pretty much unchanged from the 2024 edition and years prior.

Starting once again along the busy Portland Street strip before the half-marathon runners head towards Mancunian Way, participants will pass along Chester Road and on towards Manchester United’s legendary stadium, Old Trafford, before heading back into the city for a grandstand finish on Deansgate.

The 10k route essentially takes out the section heading towards East Manchester and the loop in front of Man City’s equally iconic Etihad Stadium, but still capitalises on all the best and biggest spots for atmosphere. Here you can see the maps in more detail HERE.

Credit: AJ Bell Great Manchester Run (supplied)

Great Manchester Run waves and start times

In terms of when the action will be getting underway, as ever, the hordes of runners will be broken up into various coloured waves depending on their estimated finish time; these colours are clearly visible on your race bib.

You can see a full breakdown below:

  • 8:10am – 10k Elite Wheelchair start
  • 8:15am – Half Marathon Orange Wave start
  • 8:40am – Half Marathon Green Wave start
  • 11:30am – 10k Elite Women start
  • 11:45am – 10k Elite Men start
  • 11:45am – 10k Fast Paced and Orange Wave start
  • 12:05am – 10k Green Wave start
  • 12:50pm – 10k Purple Wave start
  • 13:10pm – 10k Pink Wave start

Runners should have received said bibs in their race packs via the post by now, but if you need to pick up in person or source a replacement for whatever reason, they can be collected during race week.

You can find out where to do so, including other common FAQs, right HERE.

Great MCR Run travel info and road closures

Now, naturally, when such a huge event with more than 30,000 runners is set to take over the city, not to mention the 100k+ spectators that are expected to line the streets on the day, it’s always going to have an impact on travel.

Those watching on the sidelines are being urged to use public transport wherever possible, with extra trams being put on throughout the day and various other arms of the Bee Network helping people get around the event.

If you do end up driving into the region for the action, we would recommend you use one of Greater Manchester’s many park and ride sites and then use one of our many Metrolink services to travel into the city centre itself.

You can also use Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) journey planner online and see a full list of the confirmed road closures HERE.

Meanwhile, the Bee Network also have an interactive traffic map for the event:

Cheer zones and support hubs: best spots to watch the Great Manchester Run

For those of you set to line the streets and provide your much-needed support on race day, there are some key sections where the atmosphere from the crowd will be injected into the runners.

As well as a Heart Radio pop-up station, drummers, local choirs and plenty more surprises to keep your energy pumping throughout, there’ll be some big corners to look out for your loved ones.

You can find some of the main supporter hotspots and where they are along the route here:

  • St Peter’s Square – for the start line
  • Manchester Piccadilly – 2-mile marker
  • Etihad Campus/Velopark – 4/5-mile marker
  • Wharfside/Imperial War Museum – 10/11-mile marker
  • Cornbrook – 12-mile marker
  • Deansgate-Castlefield exchange – for the finish line

10k

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  • St Peter’s Square – for the start line
  • Cornbrook – 2km marker
  • Old Trafford – 4km marker
  • Wharfside/Imperial War Museum – 6km marker
  • Cornbrook – 9km marker
  • Deansgate-Castlefield corner – for the finish line

Wherever you decide to watch, just make sure you bring the same kind of wholesome energy that these queens did…

Read more:

One final message

Now, we’re not going to waste too much time reminding you to wash your race kit, stock up on safety pins and get all your other gear ready, but what we will do is remind you to go out there and have fun.

Whatever/whoever you’re doing the 2025 Great Manchester Run for, just know that we’re unbelievably proud of you all and no matter how the day goes, we want you to soak up every single cheer, bell and scream. We’ll see you at the finish line.

Now go put the great in Greater Manchester – we know going to smash it!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Phlip Oldham/Press Shots (supplied)

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Manchester’s mega-hit comedy festival makes 2025 return – with Frankie Boyle, Rosie Jones, and more on lineup

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Laughterama

Manchester’s most popular comedy festival is back later this year, and there’s some massive names on the lineup set to bring the laughs.

After what was a smash-hit success in its inaugural year back in 2022, and several other successful runs in each of the years following, Laughterama is back in Manchester for more in a couple of months time, and will once again be taking over the iconic Castlefield Bowl in the heart of the city centre for five days of fun.

Thousands of comedy lovers attend Laughterama each year to enjoy countless sell-out stand-up sets, and this year will be no different, as festivalgoers are in for an ‘explosive series of shows‘ from some of the hottest names on the comedy circuit.

Multi award-winning comedians Frankie Boyle, Ed Gamble, Rosie Jones, and Phil Wang are just some of the famous names on this year’s jam-packed lineup.

They’ll be joined by other household names like Russell Kane, Fern Brady, Rob Delaney, Lou Sanders, and Tim Key when they all take to the Castlefield Bowl stage over the five-day festival from Wednesday 3 – Sunday 7 September.

Some of the other names you can expect are Taskmaster treasures Sam Campbell and Bridget Christie, BAFTA nominee Lucy Beaumont, stand-up phenomenon Sarah Keyworth, King Gary star Tom Davis, Viceland’s Jamali Maddix, and viral sensation Jen Brister.

Manchester’s very own comedy heroes Rachel Fairburn and Stephen Bailey are also on the lineup.

Laughterama
Manchester’s mega-hit comedy festival Laughterama is making a 2025 return later this year / Credit: Supplied

It wouldn’t be Laughterama without some newcomers either, and some of the breakthrough stars not-to-be-missed this year include Edinburgh Fringe Award nominee Jin Hao Li, fast-rising talents Sharon Wanjohi and Dane Buckley, the razor-sharp Lara Ricote, and so many more to discover.

And aside from the comedy, as always, you can expect the very-best eats from Manchester’s street food scene will also be on site to tuck into, as well as an exciting selection of bars serving signature beers, cocktails, and more.

Read more:

Laughterama 2025 is landing at Castlefield Bowl from Wednesday 3 – Sunday 7 September, with tickets now on sale at £27.50 per person.

You can grab yours on the Laughterama website before they sell out here.

Featured Image – Matt Eachus (via Supplied)

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