Parklife 2024: Shuttle bus, travel pass, post code and how to get to Heaton Park

Manchester's biggest musical event and the UK's largest metropolitan festival returns to Heaton Park on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June. Tens of thousands of people are expected to head to Heaton Park over the two days to watch Parklife which will features some of the world's biggest artists.

Headliners include American rapper and singer Doja Cat, electronic duo Disclosure, and Mercury-nominated J-Hus. his year’s festival will also see performances from Sugababes, Kaytranada, Becky Hill and DJ Peggy Gou, amongst others.

Now in its 15th year, Parklife regularly draws in more than 80,000 gig-goers each day. The 2024 line-up builds on the success of last year, which saw show-stopping performances from The 1975, Aitch, The Prodigy, Wu-Tang Clan and Nas.

READ MORE: Parklife 2024 entry times, lineup, venue, stages and everything else you need to know

Earlier this year, Parklife bosses revealed this year will also feature a brand new main stage, ‘jaw-dropping’ production, and fewer line-up clashes. Alongside its headliners, acts including Digga D, Mahalia, Rudimental, Nia Archives, Hybrid Minds, Patrick Topping and Barry Can’t Swim will also take to Heaton Park this June.

As has become routine for the festival, doors for the huge music event open at 11am on Saturday and midday on Sunday. If you're heading down this weekend, here is everything you need to know about how to get to and from Parklife this weekend.

How to get to Parklife 2024

By car and drop-off

Motorists have been warned of increased congestion and various road closures around the festival site over the weekend. Hotspots around Heaton Park include: Middleton Road, Victoria Avenue, Sheepfoot Lane, Bury Old Road, Junctions 17 and 20 of the M60 (between 1pm and 4pm and then again from 10pm to 1am).

Roads will be busiest as fans make their way to the site from 10:30am to 4:30pm and after the end of the event from 10:30pm to 12:30am on both days.

Parklife festival is located at Heaton Park, so if you're driving and parking up, the address to put into your satnav is Lakeside Car Park on Sheepfoot Lane, M25 2SW, but if you're dropping someone off its best to head to Sainsburys on Middleton Road.

There are four public entry and exit points this year - West Gate on Bury Old Road; East Gate on Sheepfoot Lane; North Gate by the Lake in Heaton Park and VIP, which is off Sheepfoot Lane, adjacent to East Gate.

Junction 19 of the M60 will be closed from 7pm on both nights. Access to the pick-up point will be via Victoria Avenue and Middleton Road.

Parklife car parking at Heaton Park are now on sale through the Ticketmaster website and there is no on-street parking around the event site and there will be a number of roads closed in place around Heaton Park. The full list and map of road closures can be found here.

Taxi

There is not a taxi rank on the Parklife site, but there are Hackney Carriage (taxi) stands at The Woodthorpe on Bury Old Road and on Blackley New Road (at the junction with Rochdale Road).

If you have to drive, allow more time to travel and consider re-routing your journey to avoid the affected area.

Metrolink

There will be a six-minute frequency to Parklife from Manchester city centre. Festival-goers can travel on the Bury line (marked yellow or green on some journey planners) to get to the venue. The stops for Heaton Park are Heaton Park or Bowker Vale.

Both stops are just a few minutes away from the park gates, and there will be staff and signs to help you on your way.

To allow for the safe queuing and travel back after the event, Heaton Park tram stop will close from 8pm on both nights. After Parklife has finished people are asked to use the Bowker Vale stop which is located near the East Gate exit.

Metrolink services will continue to operate until the venue is cleared.

There will also be some stop closures over the weekend. On Saturday 8 June The following stops will be closed during the day:

• Market Street and Shudehill - Closed all Saturday

• Heaton Park – from 8pm until the end of service

• Exchange Square – between 12pm and approximately 5pm

On Sunday 9 June The following stops will be closed during the day:

• Heaton Park – From 8pm until end of service

• Exchange Square – between 12pm and approximately 5pm

Bus

The Parklife Shuttle will run continuously during the day, departing from the corner of Aytoun Street and Minshull Street (M1 2DD), near Piccadilly train station.

On Saturday the first bus to the Park will depart at 10am with the last bus departing at 4:30pm On Sunday the first bus to the Park will depart at 11am with the last bus departing at 4:30pm.

Organisers anticipate queues for bus services at the busiest times of the day. Between 1pm and 3pm queues are expected to reach up to 45 minutes. Allow additional time for travel or consider travelling earlier in the day for a quicker journey.

On both days, the return bus service will depart from inside the Park to Manchester City Centre, beginning at 6:30pm and will continue until the site is clear. As soon as a bus is full it will depart, dropping passengers off at Shudehill Interchange in the city centre.

Due to the road closures and traffic around the site, a number of bus services will be diverted over the course of the weekend. Services affected over the weekend will be: 41, 59, 66, 90, 94, 135 and 156.

The full list of diversions is here.

Walking

There is a clear walking route suggested by TFGM along Bury Old Road, which will be signposted to-and-from the city centre of Manchester to Parklife. If you wish to walk please follow and stick to the route.

The quickest route for walking begins by leaving through the East Gate and turning right out of the park.

Train

Manchester Piccadilly, Deansgate-Castlefield, Oxford Road and Victoria stations are all expected to be busier than usual with various events taking place over the weekend. For latest updates check train times on the National Rail website before you travel.

How to buy a Parklife travel pass and what it includes

The Parklife travel pass will allow festival-goers to travel from the city centre to the site, and back again, by tram or shuttle bus with one ticket.

Travel by tram from the city centre to Heaton Park is included in the ticket, but as previously explained Heaton Park tram stop will be closed after the event, so the advice is to head to Bowker Vale tram stop to get back to the city centre.

Travel by shuttle bus between Aytoun Street (Manchester city centre) and Heaton Park is also covered in the price of the ticket.

A weekend travel pass costs £11 for use on both Saturday and Sunday. A Saturday or Sunday pass is £5.50. Parklife travel tickets are available exclusively on the Bee Network app, and to buy a ticket you will need to download the Bee Network app.

If you purchase a Parklife travel ticket on the Bee Network app, you will need to show this on your phone/device for travel.