Circle Square Celebrates Manchester Marathon With All Day Fan Zone

Circle Square, Manchester’s innovative city centre neighbourhood from Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group, is set to be transformed into a Manchester Marathon Fan Zone on Sunday 27th April, to celebrate the UK’s second biggest Marathon and all the incredible runners taking part. Circle Square, located in the heart of Manchester’s knowledge quarter on the Oxford Road Corridor is close to this year’s finishing line by the University of Manchester on Oxford Road and so the fanzone will make the perfect base for supporters and runners alike. 

The Circle Square Fan Zone will be a space for runners, spectators and the whole Manchester community to come together, enjoy the race-day buzz and cheer on thousands of participants. The race will be broadcast live throughout the day on an outdoor big screen providing the perfect place to soak up the marathon day excitement and track the progress of the race. There’ll be pop up stalls and activities including an athletic zone for children and plenty of food and refreshments. A whole host of special offers for medal holders from post-run pints and burgers to hot drinks and Banh Mis will ensure that Circle Square is the ultimate celebration hub for competitors and their supporters alike.

The whole event is free to enjoy and will run from 10am-5pm - supporters and runners are welcome throughout the day. The beautiful Symphony Park, one of the city centre’s most striking green spaces, will provide the perfect setting for the celebrations, complete with deckchairs and plenty of al fresco seating provided by Circle Square’s unique amphitheatre. The activity will be spread across the whole site and within the onsite venues too.

The stage host will be encouraging attendees to get involved with the exciting programme of activities planned throughout the day:

• Live streaming of the whole Marathon race - spot your friends and loved ones as they make their way through the ultimate running challenge. 

• Live entertainment - head to Symphony Park to catch live performances by Bhangracise Manchester and more. 

• Free yoga sessions - join Jett's Gyms on the grass for some much-needed race day stretching

• Pilates taster sessions - try out reformer pilates with Restart Pilates taster sessions running throughout the day. They’ll be handing out vouchers for their classes too. 

• Kids Mini Athletics - a whole range of activities will be available for little ones to try - from sprints and balance beams to hurdles, foam javelins and long jumps. 

• Pop-up Rehydration Station - grab some post-race iced drinks, slushies, and recovery shots hosted by Circle Square’s North Bar. 

• Pop-up food and drinks stalls -  enjoy iced drinks and coffee from brunch icons Federal, soft-serve ice cream from Hello Oriental and a summer spritz Manchester Gin outdoor bar by North Bar. 

Plus the fantastic Circle Square community of independent businesses and bigger brands are welcoming runners with a whole host of special offers for hungry medal holders & supporters too. 

This will include: 

• A free post run meal for all medal holders at KOTO North Bar

• Discounted brunch at at Federal cafe when you show your medal to the team

• 20% discount off the entire Bird of Prey menu

• Marathon medal holders can enjoy a cheeseburger from Doug’s Hamburgers for £1.99  

• A free regular hot drink with any bagel purchased from Bagel Factory

• Half Dozen Other will be offering a free coffee for every runner when they show the HDO team their medal 

• Free ice cream or a cold beer or soft drink for marathon finishers from Hello Oriental

• Discounted treatment vouchers for winners of games or activities from Forever 22

Adjacent to Oxford Road train station, Circle Square is one of Manchester’s most unique places to live, work, eat and drink. It is home to exciting businesses including hospitality and leisure innovators such as Onda Pasta Bar, Federal, and Restart Reformer Pilates alongside a community of digital and tech trailblazers such as HPE, Avalere Health and Roku. No.3 Circle Square, the latest £87m, 267,000 sq ft addition to the campus is due to complete in April and will be the new home to AutoTrader’s HQ.