Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

BFI Flare Film Festival at SPARK, Manchester

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

Book now

BFI Flare Film Festival at SPARK

Number 70 Oxford Street, Manchester
4 July 2017

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

From £6.00
Mum - Image courtesy of SPARK
Mum - Image courtesy of SPARK
Book now

Brand new transgender arts festival, SPARK, arrives in Manchester this July with a multi-disciplinary celebration of the work of trans and non-binary artists. Festival curators Trans Creative have teamed up with British Film Institute programmer, Zorian Clayton, to co-present a programme of local and national short films on tour from this year’s BFI Flare LGBT film festival.

Screening for the first time in the north, the programme focuses on positive, empowering stories based around family, transitioning and gender expression. The line up includes: Anne-Marie O’Connor‘s autobiographical Mum, Pallavi Somusetty’s film about a non-binary person in India, Escaping Agra and Sarah Jenny Johnson’s documentary of transitioning, Eli. Trans Creative’s Artistic Director and co-creator of Mum, Kate O’Donnell, will host the evening and a Q&A with Eli afterwards.

Where to go near BFI Flare Film Festival at SPARK, Manchester

Manchester
Gallery
texture mcr

Possibly one of the city’s most mysterious art galleries, texture is a small and perfectly-formed independent space in Ardwick.

Foodie Food
Manchester
Restaurant
Foodie Food

Foodie Food is a new food delivery service, bringing hand-stretched Neapolitan-style pizzas and high-end burgers to Manchester.

Wing Dash
Manchester
Wing Dash

Exceptional chicken wings from one of Manchester’s premium food delivery outlets.

ABC Taproom
Manchester
Bar or Pub
ABC Taproom

ABC Taproom is part of the Alphabet Brewing Co. Open Friday and Saturday nights, go here to enjoy some of Manchester’s very best beer.

Manchester
Cloud Aerial

Get upside down with Cloud Aerial. Their beginner classes are the perfect introduction to the addictively fun world of aerial arts.

Manchester
Library
Gaskell Society

These regular talks in both Manchester and Knutsford unpack the meaning and significance of Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing.

PROGRESS
Manchester
Music venue
Progress Centre

After serving two summers of temporary parties, Progress Centre was reinvented into a new permanent outdoor club in 2024, before adding two new permanent spaces – Square One and Cakebread…

Manchester
Museum
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House has been lovingly restored; you can now sit at her desk, see where Charlotte Brontë hid behind the curtains, and have tea in the downstairs café. The Pankhurst Centre is also nearby.

Manchester
Restaurant
GRUB Manchester

Manchester’s original vegan street food festival returns at the end of this month to celebrate Veganuary.

See all places

What's on: Cinema

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

A host of Halloween horrors, experimental shorts, plus pioneering black British cinema make our October Cinema Guide.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Theatre this month bursts with contrasts - from bold new writing and Black History Month highlights to contemporary arts and reimagined classics.

Exhibitions in the North

Galleries around the North are gearing up for a new season of exhibitions - from iconic art prizes to smaller, artist-led gems.

Wisp Press Image
Music in the North

From corrupted shoegaze to experimental electronica, post-hardcore to Indian classical, these are the shows that should be on your radar.

See all guides