Rescued from dereliction by the Northern Ballet School in 1990, The Dancehouse was restored to its 1930s Art Deco glory and reopened in 1994 as a theatre and dance studio. The 35, 000 square foot venue stages cabaret acts, comedy shows, talks and cinema screenings as well as functioning as a ballet training institution.
Sorry return to Manchester with a new album that finally captures the full strangeness and clarity of a band who’ve spent years ducking easy categorisation.
From £23.25
The Modernist presents a body of acrylic landscapes by Salford-based artist Peter James Houghton, shaped by themes of societal decline, hiraeth and human isolation.
Free entry
HOME presents ‘Roots in the Sky’, a group exhibition and curatorial project by British-Nigerian artist Tunji Adeniyi-Jones.
Adapting Ken Loach’s acclaimed film, I, Daniel Blake returns to HOME, revisiting a story whose urgency has only sharpened with time.
Coinciding with the release of Richard Linklater’s film Nouvelle Vague, this HOME course offers an accessible overview of one of cinema’s most influential movements.
HOME’s Christmas show Freaky Friday makes its UK stage premiere. A funny, heartfelt Disney musical offering a body-swappingly brilliant alternative to panto.
From £27.70
New Queers Eve takes over all three floors of The Deaf Institute, turning the building into Dandy’s end-of-year playground.
From £5.00
The Hallé turns back the clock to the roaring twenties with Gatsby and the Jazz Age, with conductor Guy Barker steering a starry line-up.
From £28.00
Manchester Wine Tours is a relaxed, fun wine tour, full of the city’s best food and drink, led by an effortlessly engaging host.
Friendly pub under a railway arch serving vegetarian and vegan pub food, as well as hosting regular live music.
Refined steakhouse with smart, low-lit decor, boasting some of the finest cuts of meat in the city.
Independent Leeds-based brewery North has opened its first Manchester taproom, in Oxford Road’s Circle Square neighbourhood.
The apple in Now Wave’s eye, YES boasts four floors of live music and DJs, and offers food via two outlets. It also has a huge outdoor roof terrace!
Bakchich does excellent, reasonably priced Lebanese food – including sharwarma, pickles, meshawi grills and baklawa – in a beautifully tiled, high-ceilinged space.
Beer, cocktails and Asian street food at one of Manchester’s friendliest bars.
Manchester has more than one top-tier Indian restaurant, but Zouk is right up there with the best, and counts Drake as a fan.
Gorilla is a good choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. From a hearty full English to meaty burgers via good vegan and veggie options. It also hosts some of the
Panchos Burritos is a Mexican street food vendor in the Arndale Market.
Long-established Manchester bar and nightclub, Joshua Brooks is just off student hotspot Oxford Road. Open until 4am on the weekends with regular DJ-led club nights.
A bar and 10-pin bowling alley combined, Dog Bowl is a neon-lit venue that serves up cocktails and Tex-Mex food to go with your time on the lanes.
This season, exhibitions across the North West feel attuned to the world beneath the world – the forces and stories shaping how we see, feel and imagine.
Manchester’s starting the new year with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.
Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.
Step away from the usual. Tours and activities that spark curiosity, inspire creativity and offer something refreshingly different.
Theatre across the North West splits between festive escape and sharp, urgent work exploring politics, power and resistance.
There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.
Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.
