When do panto tickets go on sale near Manchester?
Panto tickets near Manchester usually go on sale in early January. For a good choice of dates, book by 30 September.
Big pantos put next year's show on sale during or just after this year's run: Stockport Plaza on its opening day in early December, Buxton mid-December, Storyhouse and Manchester's Opera House in January or February, the Everyman by February. Long runs rarely sell out completely; what goes first is particular performances, and the Everyman had sold-out shows within a week of opening. Smaller theatres like the Garrick were bookable by the summer. Why then: the big pantos have been on sale for 8 to 12 months by then and particular performances start to go, so families wanting a weekend or the week before Christmas should book by the end of September.
From 10 booking launches we dated across 7 outings, 2024 to 2026, 5 to the day or week (earliest December, latest February); the rest show when tickets were already on sale. Research checked Wednesday 28 October; booking states updated Wednesday 28 October.
Pantomimes: the booking year
| Outing | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pantomimes | January: booking opens, on | February: booking opens | March: bookable | April: bookable | May: bookable | June: bookable | July: bookable | August: booking opens | September: bookable | October: bookable | November: bookable, sells out, on | December: booking opens, on |
A reminder on Sunday 27 December, just before booking usually opens, and every year after.
Right now
Today, of the 43 we list that need booking, 35 are on sale, 5 selling fast, 1 sold out.
Selling fast
- Robin Hood: the Garrick pantomime at Altrincham Garrick Playhouse Altrincham Garrick Playhouse · from Fri 4 Dec · 10 min
- Jack and the Beanstalk at The Met The Met · from Sat 5 Dec · 40 min
- Sleeping Beauty at Lyceum Theatre Crewe Lyceum Theatre · from Fri 11 Dec · 45 min
- Aladdin (Blackburn Empire pantomime, Tom Rolfe Productions) Blackburn Empire Theatre · from Sat 21 Nov · 50 min
- The Rock 'n' Roll Panto: Beauty and the Beast at Liverpool Everyman Liverpool Everyman · from Sat 14 Nov · 55 min
Sold out
- ComedySportz Improvised Panto at Waterside Arts Waterside Arts · check for returns
Getting the dates you want
- Next year's panto often goes on sale while this year's is still running: Stockport Plaza opened 2025 sales on the first day of its 2024 run.
- Booking straight after Christmas, January to April, can mean early-bird prices (The Atkinson ran early-bird prices until the end of April).
- Theatre members and Friends often get first go or cheaper seats (Storyhouse members' prices; ATG+ priority booking).
- A big name announced in spring (Manford in Feb 2025 and Feb 2026) tends to set off a rush of bookings, so book before or right after the casting news.
When booking opened, year by year
Each date as exactly as its source shows it. Follow the source to check.
Altrincham Garrick Playhouse pantomime Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham · 10 min
- 2024 On sale by August 2024. The Garrick's page for Jack and the Beanstalk (2024/25) was archived with Book now and a booking calendar on 3 Aug 2024. Bookable by early August; opening day not found. web.archive.org (saved copy)
Stockport Plaza family pantomime Stockport Plaza, Mersey Square, Stockport · 20 min
- 2026 On sale by December 2025. The Plaza's page for Jack and the Beanstalk (4 Dec 2026 to 3 Jan 2027) was archived with Buy Tickets buttons on 8 Dec 2025, the first weekend of Aladdin's run, matching the year before's pattern. web.archive.org (saved copy)
- 2025 Booking opened Fri 6 Dec 2024. The Plaza's announcement says Aladdin (5 Dec 2025 to 4 Jan 2026) went on general sale on Fri 6 Dec 2024 at 10am online and by phone, 11am in person, the opening day of the previous panto. stockportplaza.co.uk
Manchester Opera House pantomime (Jason Manford and Ben Nickless) Opera House, Manchester city centre · 25 min
- 2026 Booking opened week of 4 Feb 2026. Crossroads announced Dick Whittington (5 Dec 2026 to 3 Jan 2027) with Manford on 4 Feb 2026, replacing a previously announced Snow White; ATG's page was archived bookable on 8 Feb 2026. The earlier title may have been bookable before that. pantomime.com
- 2025 Booking opened Thu 27 Feb 2025. Article of 27 Feb 2025 announcing Robin Hood (6 Dec 2025 to 4 Jan 2026) says tickets are on sale now; the earliest Wayback copy of ATG's Robin Hood page is the same day. londontheatrenews.co.uk
- 2024 On sale by December 2023. ATG's page for Cinderella (14 Dec 2024 to 5 Jan 2025) already had a Buy Tickets button on 24 Dec 2023, while the 2023 panto was still running; the star casting followed in May 2024 (British Theatre Guide). Bookable by then, a year ahead; exact opening day not found. web.archive.org (saved copy)
Everyman Rock 'n' Roll Panto Everyman Theatre, Liverpool · 50 min
- 2025 On sale by February 2025; sold out by 20 Nov 2025. By 20 Nov 2025, the week the run opened, the theatre said some performances had sold out and the rest were selling fast.. The Everyman's page for Jack and the Beanstalk (15 Nov 2025 to 17 Jan 2026) was archived with Book now on 8 Feb 2025, nine months ahead. Sold-out note from Culture Liverpool, 20 Nov 2025: https://cultureliverpool.co.uk/2025/panto-fun-laughs-and-loads-more-this-christmas-at-the-everyman/ web.archive.org (saved copy)
Storyhouse Christmas show Storyhouse, Chester · 50 min
- 2026 Booking opened Tue 20 Jan 2026. Announced 20 Jan 2026, just after Beauty and the Beast closed: Rapunzel (4 Dec 2026 to 3 Jan 2027) on sale now, from £16.20 for Storyhouse members. The 2025 show drew almost 25,000 people, up nearly 30%. broadwayworld.com
Buxton Opera House pantomime Buxton Opera House, Buxton · 55 min
- 2026 Booking opened Tue 16 Dec 2025. News report of 16 Dec 2025, during the run of Aladdin, announcing Sleeping Beauty (4 Dec 2026 to 2 Jan 2027) with tickets on sale now; the cast followed in Sep 2026. silk1069.com
The Atkinson pantomime The Atkinson, Southport · 65 min
- 2026 On sale by February 2026; early bird prices (from £26 an adult, families from £90) until the end of April 2026. Council news of 3 Feb 2026: early-bird tickets for Cinderella (4 to 31 Dec 2026) already on sale and selling steadily, after a record 14,350 tickets for the 2025 panto. Further than our usual hour, kept as the clearest early-bird example. sefton.gov.uk
On-sale dates are solid for Stockport Plaza, Buxton, Storyhouse and the Opera House 2025; others are 'bookable by' brackets from archived pages. No source gave the date the best dates (weekends, the week before Christmas) sold out at any theatre, and none recorded a whole run selling out. Community and amateur pantos in Altrincham and Sale were not dated. The Lowry's Christmas show is a play, not a panto, and is in christmas-shows.
Questions parents ask
When do panto tickets go on sale?
Panto tickets near Manchester usually go on sale in early January. Big pantos put next year's show on sale during or just after this year's run: Stockport Plaza on its opening day in early December, Buxton mid-December, Storyhouse and Manchester's Opera House in January or February, the Everyman by February. Long runs rarely sell out completely; what goes first is particular performances, and the Everyman had sold-out shows within a week of opening. Smaller theatres like the Garrick were bookable by the summer. For a good choice of dates, book by 30 September: the big pantos have been on sale for 8 to 12 months by then and particular performances start to go, so families wanting a weekend or the week before Christmas should book by the end of September. From 10 booking launches we dated across 7 outings, 2024 to 2026, 5 to the day or week (earliest December, latest February); the rest show when tickets were already on sale.
When do panto tickets sell out?
Big pantos put next year's show on sale during or just after this year's run: Stockport Plaza on its opening day in early December, Buxton mid-December, Storyhouse and Manchester's Opera House in January or February, the Everyman by February. Long runs rarely sell out completely; what goes first is particular performances, and the Everyman had sold-out shows within a week of opening. Smaller theatres like the Garrick were bookable by the summer.
When should I book panto tickets?
By 30 September: the big pantos have been on sale for 8 to 12 months by then and particular performances start to go, so families wanting a weekend or the week before Christmas should book by the end of September. Next year's panto often goes on sale while this year's is still running: Stockport Plaza opened 2025 sales on the first day of its 2024 run.
Is there a pre-sale or early-bird price for panto tickets?
Sometimes. The Atkinson pantomime had an early-bird price (2026: prices (from £26 an adult, families from £90) until the end of April 2026).
Can I still book panto tickets now?
Today, of the 43 we list that need booking, 35 are on sale, 5 selling fast, 1 sold out. See them all.
How we worked it out
We dated when booking opened for 7 of the most popular pantomimes within about an hour of Timperley, 2024 to 2026, from the organisers' own announcements, saved copies of their booking pages on the Internet Archive, local news and ticketing sites. "Usually" and "typical" mean the median date, ignoring the year. Today's booking states come from our own checks of each booking page, rebuilt every night. Something wrong or missing? [email protected].