Dr Dee’s Secret Curiosity Shop

Halloween In The City and Wild Rumpus, producers of the award-winning Just So Festival, are creating an epic, mysterious adventure this month with early details leaving big and little kids alike busting with well-justified excitement.

For one day only on Saturday 29 October a haunting historic map (which can be downloaded in advance or collected at various city centre points) will challenge families to visit 7 surprising locations and encounter incredible happenings, performers and curious characters across Manchester city centre. Each location will deliver a clue to work out a password to access Dr Dee’s Secret Curiosity Shop and maybe even meet the mysterious man himself.

This intriguing establishment – an intimate palace of curiosities – has emerged in Manchester for the first time in 421 years. Within it lies the strange and unusual world of one of the greatest minds of the 16^th century and the first opportunity in over four centuries to meet the man himself. Dr John  Dee is one of Manchester’s most famous and notorious residents – an  extraordinary renaissance scientist, magician, alchemist, astrologer, occultist, spy, advisor to Queen Elizabeth 1 and former warden of the college that is now Chetham’s Library .

Look out for mesmerising musicians at House of Fraser and amazing aerialists on New Cathedral Street. Make magical masks at Paperchase and summon up the courage to meet The Fear Eater at Cath Kidston – let her consume your fears and banish them from this world.

We love that this incredible adventure, which will take around 2 hours to complete if visiting all 7 locations, will make us see and interact with our city differently.  Spinetingling indeed.