The Manchester Evening news arena located in Manchester is the city's biggest venue for live acts, sports events and more. It is known as the MEN for short and for those that have been a resident of Manchester long enough will remember it being called the NYNEX. I can't remember what the NYNEX stood for but it was when Cable and wireless used to sponsor it. The Manchester Evening news now sponsor it and originally just decided to name the place after the newspaper!!

The arena is pretty big and can hold thousands of people up to about 15,000 sometimes up to 15,500 depending on the seat layout and stage size.

The MEN can be accessed by various entrances and also directly from Victoria station which is located next door to the Arena.
The arena has various stalls inside where you can purchase drinks and snacks but as always these are not cheap - a half pint costs somewhere in the region of £3. You can also buy programmes and posters etc of whatever act is performing that night.

When going into an event it can sometimes be quite busy but the queues at the doors do move quite fast. They will normally do bag checks if they feel the event requires it.

Normally with most event here seats are set up around the sides and then also on the ground level facing directly at the stage unless of course it is a sports event like the Ice Hockey that I went to last year where they just remove all the ground seats and have the rink slap bang in the centre. The seats that are up the sides can be quite high and I wouldn't personally like to be sat up top!!

Prices for events depend on what event it is and for more information on the arena and any upcoming events you can check online at www.men-arena.com

There is lots of local transport links in the surrounding area and the arena has parking for up to 777 cars - however during events it is wise to get there early as the car park is not exclusive to people who have tickets for a show as anybody can park here.