Autumn at the Science and Industry Museum

Manchester’s renowned and much-loved Science and Industry Museum is a hotbed of discovery, heritage and experimentation this autumn with a stonking programme set to wow, challenge and surprise.

Where do we start? First up, Stephenson’s Rocket returns to Manchester for the first time in almost two centuries. Back where it all began when the first railways changed the world.

From October, prepare for over 120 mindblowing events in just 11 days at Manchester Science Festival. “Part laboratory, part playground”, the country’s biggest science festival, programmed by the team at the Science and Industry Museum, has once more pulled out all the stops. With a full-to-the-brim family programme there’s definitely more than enough to keep everyone out of trouble this half-term (adults included).

We couldn’t be more excited to play in the depths of space in Distortions of Spacetime, the latest experience from audiovisual gurus Marshmallow Laser Feast. Housed in the Science and Industry Museum’s historic 1830 Warehouse, we love that one of the most important heritage sites in the world, in the heart of the world’s first industrial city is pioneering the best in innovation today by allowing us to actually play in a black hole. Yep, you read that right.

We also recommend that new exhibition Electricity: The Spark of Life is in all of your diaries to catch before Spring.  Humans have battled to control and use this thrilling force of nature since history began. The Science and Industry Museum now reveals how the electric revolution changed the world thanks, in part, to pioneering Manchester inventors. Of course!

The Science and Industry Museum is always a top place to visit in our book. We love that it’s top of the game of what museums can be like for grown-ups and kids alike with the welcoming and accessible chitter chatter of discussion and play washing over you as soon as you walk in.