What's On in Manchester

Room on the Broom - Interactive Halloween Storytelling — Kick off Halloween the right way for your little ghouls with this interactive retelling of Julia Donaldson's beloved classic at The Garden Bar Monton — a wonderfully unexpected venue that gives the whole thing a cosy, neighbourhood charm. Expect giggles, spells, and probably a broomstick or two, with tickets from nothing to £15 depending on how many tiny witches you're bringing along. It's the kind of morning that children will still be talking about come November.

Manic Street Preachers & Suede — Two of the most gloriously literate, impassioned bands to ever come out of the British Isles sharing a stage at Co-op Live on Halloween night — honestly, pinch yourself. The Manics' anthemic fury paired with Suede's velvet-draped melancholy makes for a double bill that feels almost designed to give you the feelings. Doors at 6:00pm; check the website for tickets before they're gone.

Korn — If Halloween calls for something heavier, Korn at the AO Arena at 6:00pm is about as visceral and cathartic as live music gets — a band who practically invented the late-nineties darkness that so many of us grew up with, still delivering it with ferocious conviction. The AO Arena is an enormous room and Korn know exactly how to fill every inch of it. Check the website for tickets and brace yourself.

Manchester Halloween Day Party With Bez — Yes, that Bez — the maracas-shaking, perpetually joyful Happy Mondays dancer who has more pure Mancunian energy in one arm than most of us have in our entire bodies. From 4:00pm at Freight Island, this is a day party with genuine city spirit baked into its DNA, priced at £10–£22 and set in one of the most atmospheric warehouse spaces in town. Come in costume, come with friends, and come ready to move.

DAHLIA STEREO HALLOWEEN with COCO MARIA — Coco Maria is one of the most exciting selectors working in the global sounds and balearic space right now, and catching her at Dahlia Stereo from 7:00pm on Halloween is a proper treat for those who like their nights a little more leftfield and a lot more soulful. Entry is between free and £10, which makes it one of the best-value things happening in the city tonight. Dress up, turn up, and let the music take you somewhere unexpected.

Maisie Adam: Whatsherface — If you'd rather spend Halloween crying with laughter in a theatre seat than dancing in a sweaty costume, Maisie Adam at HOME Manchester from 7:30pm is your answer — one of the UK's sharpest and most charismatic stand-ups bringing her acclaimed show to one of the city's most beloved arts venues. It's a perfect counterpoint to all the mayhem outside and a reminder that comedy at its best is genuinely spooky in how well it reads the room. Check the website for tickets.