Manchester's Albert Square was able to play a spectacular part in this year's huge Manchester Day finale - for the first time in eight years. The city's historic main civic square has been out of action since 2018 due to the ongoing refurbishment works at Manchester Town Hall.

But finally the scaffolding is starting to come down off the historic clock tower, and the square itself is almost back to full use across its expanded palazzo. It meant Manchester Day events could return there on Sunday - and it played host to a dazzling new feature with the finale event which saw many of the performers from the Manchester Day Parade perform a huge medley of music and dance and even small-scale fireworks to the delight of the audience.

The event had a Catalan theme this year, with many performers from Barcelona attending - including one of the Parade's most spectacular features, the Gegants - huge puppets of a Spanish King and Queen. And, in quite extraordinary scenes, the historic puppets, appearing in Manchester for the first time ever outside of Spain, could be seen dancing along as brass band Mr Wilson's Second Liners belted out Faithless's Insomnia on Albert Square.

The Manchester Day event paves for the way for the return of the square to hosting more festivals and events in the months and years to come. It made a partial return for the Manchester Christmas Markets in November and December last year, with hopes it will be a fuller return for 2026. However the Town Hall itself is not due to reopen until Spring 2027.

Cllr Pat Karney, Chair of Manchester Day, said: "One of the best things about Manchester Day this year was seeing Albert Square playing its part once again in Manchester's favourite day of the year. It was fantastic to see it so vibrant and full of life and energy again.

"The crowds were loving it and even a sprinkling of good old-fashioned Manchester rain in the morning - much needed as we all know, even though we weren't really wanting it to rain on our parade - didn't dampen people's enthusiasm for coming into town and enjoying the day.

"And seeing our majestic town hall clock tower once again as a backdrop to what was a sensational crowd-pleaser of a finale finish to an incredible day celebrating our wonderful city, felt like coming home again for the first time after a very long time away. It was simply brilliant - you could see that in the faces of the crowds - utterly heartwarming and it felt so right."

Albert Square also played host to some of the most spectacular visiting performers from Barcelona across Manchester Day. That included an eye-popping performance from Catalan superstar Joan Catala, who brought a giant wooden pole and performed near-death-defying feats with it across a packed crowd of families who were left in awe on Sunday afternoon.

Click or swipe below for a gallery of photos from Manchester Day on Albert Square.