Easter weekend in Manchester is one of the best long weekends of the year if you know where to look. Four days off, the weather is usually somewhere between hopeful and grim, and the city has enough going on to fill every hour if you want it to.
Here is everything worth knowing about Easter in Manchester 2026.
When Is Easter 2026?
Good Friday: 3 April. Easter Sunday: 5 April. Easter Monday: 6 April. Four days off for most people, which means the city centre will be rammed from Thursday evening onwards.
What’s Open Over Easter
Most Manchester restaurants and bars stay open through Easter, though some change their hours. The Arndale Centre opens on Saturday but closes Easter Sunday and reopens Monday. The Trafford Centre keeps normal hours all weekend. Supermarkets close Easter Sunday by law — do your shop on Saturday.
Key openings:
- Manchester Art Gallery — open all weekend, free entry as always
- The John Rylands Library — open Good Friday through Monday, free
- Science and Industry Museum — open daily, free, running Easter trails for kids
- Manchester Museum — open daily, free, the new South Asia Gallery is worth the trip alone
- HOME — open all weekend, films and exhibitions running as normal
- The Whitworth — open Saturday to Monday, free, the park behind it is ideal for a walk
Best Easter Brunch
Easter brunch is a thing now and Manchester does it properly. Book ahead because everywhere decent fills up by Wednesday.
- Federal (NQ + Deansgate) — their standard brunch menu with an Easter special pastry. Expect a queue.
- Erst (Ancoats) — seasonal menu, whatever the kitchen gets fresh that morning. Book or turn up at 10am sharp.
- Ramona (Deansgate Mews) — bottomless Easter brunch with deep-dish pizza and prosecco. Books out fast.
- The Ivy (Spinningfields) — fancy Easter set menu if you want tablecloths and champagne.
- Mackie Mayor — no booking needed, multiple stalls running brunch, the building itself is the star.
Easter With Kids
Manchester has more free family stuff at Easter than most people realise.
- Easter egg hunt at Dunham Massey — National Trust, just outside the city. Proper grounds, deer park, the kids will sleep on the drive home. Book online, it sells out.
- Heaton Park — free entry, massive park, animal farm, the kids can run themselves ragged. Pack a picnic.
- Science and Industry Museum — Easter science workshops, free, and genuinely good. Not the usual colouring-in rubbish.
- LEGOLAND Discovery Centre (Trafford Centre) — not free but worth it for under-10s. Book online for cheaper tickets.
- Chill Factore — indoor skiing and sledging. Sounds mad but the kids love it and it burns off energy.
Easter Events
The events calendar fills up fast over Easter. Check the MCR events page for the full live listings, but here are the highlights:
- Easter at Escape to Freight Island — street food, DJs, family-friendly daytime sessions turning into proper nights. The venue is a converted railway depot and it is one of the best spaces in the city.
- Albert Hall Easter parties — the old Methodist hall on Peter Street runs club nights through the weekend. The venue is — stained glass windows and a balcony that wraps the entire room.
- Northern Quarter bar crawl — not an organised event, just the natural state of the NQ on a bank holiday weekend. Start at Stevenson Square, work your way down Oldham Street, end up at Night and Day or Soup Kitchen.
Best Walks Over Easter
If the weather holds, get out of the city centre.
- Castlefield to Media City canal walk — flat, easy, 45 minutes, ends at The Lowry where you can get a coffee and look at the water.
- Fletcher Moss to Didsbury village — gardens, riverside, then brunch on Burton Road. The perfect Saturday morning.
- Edale from Piccadilly — 30 minutes on the train, then you are in the Peak District. Kinder Scout if you are feeling ambitious, Mam Tor if you want views without the scramble.
Where to Eat on Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday is traditionally the hardest day to find somewhere open. These are confirmed open for 2026:
- Hawksmoor (Deansgate) — Sunday roast here is one of the best in the city. The bone-in short rib is obscene.
- El Gato Negro (King Street) — Spanish tapas, open all weekend, the croquetas are perfect.
- Dishoom (King Street) — Indian brunch and dinner. The bacon naan roll is a genuine life-changing experience.
- Albert’s Schloss (Peter Street) — Bavarian beer hall, open all day, live music from the afternoon.
- Rudy’s Pizza (Ancoats / Peter Street / Didsbury) — Neapolitan pizza, no bookings, queue moves fast. Bring cash for speed.
The Weather
It is Manchester in April. Expect anything. Pack a coat even if the forecast says sun. The city looks best in that weird spring light where it has just rained and everything is shiny. That is the real Manchester aesthetic and you will get it at least once over the weekend.
Getting Around
Metrolink runs a reduced timetable on Good Friday and Easter Monday but services are frequent enough. Buses run as normal. If you are driving into the city centre, the NCP on Church Street is the cheapest central option. Uber surge pricing kicks in hard on Saturday night — get the tram home or walk.
