Saturday night saw vast amounts of people making their way across Manchester following performances from Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran and the Killers, as well as festival-goers making their way from Parklife.
It proved to be a chaotic recipe, with 'bedlam' across a gridlocked Manchester and soaring taxi prices as surge charges kicked in. The tumultuous Saturday night scenes have seen readers respond with frustration over the hectic post-gig rush to get away.
Many reacted with anger at the reported surge charges, after one person told the M.E.N’s Facebook page that their usual taxi fare of around £6 from Heaton Park to Middleton had shot up to £46.50.
One reader responded: "Taxi drivers should be ashamed of themselves exploiting people in that way just because they know people will pay whatever it costs when there desperate to get home."
READ MORE: 'How much to Fallowfield mate?': The mad scramble to get home after Parklife
Someone else shared with a similar view, saying: "O f course the taxis will demand ridiculous prices because they know if people are desperate they will have no choice but to pay it.
"They well and truly had the power to screw people over knowing they can get away with it."
Another reader said: " There should be some sort of law against this type of greedy exploitation...it's disgusting."
Others slammed the public transport system across the city, with one person saying: " Packed trams, not enough buses. It’s alright putting on these events and making money for the economy but the city has quite possibly the worst transport network in Europe."
You can share your thoughts and experiences in our comments section.
They weren't the only one criticising how equipped Manchester is for dealing with large numbers of people, with another adding: " Manchester can't handle a busy weekday rush hour let alone 4 major concerts all on at the same time."
One reader put forward: " Poorly organised and insufficient public transport to support most of these events. Maybe a good idea would be to start and finish earlier, and sync last trams/buses to it?"
People driving across the city also struggled, with one person saying: "So glad I didn't rely on public transport but the roads were an absolute joke too.
"It's alright closing roads to make it safer for us getting out of the stadiums but there were no police on the roads at the worst gridlocked areas to manage the traffic & it was every man/woman for themself [sic] with no regard for laws & the highway code."
Another reader said: "The roads weren't any better either sat in a car park from well over an hour trying to get home the roadworks out of Salford are horrific."
More people shared their experiences navigating Manchester over the weekend, with one saying: "Went to rescue my stranded girls at 11.45 absolute chaos 2.45 mins for a 20 trip.
"Seeing lone females putting themselves at risk cos no transport available, disgusting zero organisation."
Another person shared: "We were caught up in the chaos leaving the Ed Sheeran gig last night. We did the recommended option and used the Park & Ride at Ashton, which was a breeze going, but then had to wait two hours for a tram to get back afterwards.
"Trams coming from Manchester were either delayed or already packed with people heading home from the other events. It was actually quicker going the other way into Manchester! Absolute carnage!"
