Manchester Jazz Festival Family Activities

Shekina Rose, Families Editor
Manchester Jazz Festival Family Activities
pexels/wallace chuck

Free event - Manchester Jazz Festival at HOME Manchester, Manchester 17 May 2025 Entrance is free — Visit now

Looking for something fun, free, and family-friendly to do this May? Head down to First Street on the morning of Friday 17 May as Manchester Jazz Festival kicks off with a packed programme for families. Whether your little ones love music, movement, nature, or imaginative play, there’s something for everyone – and it’s free!

Start your day with a musical moment to remember at Thanda’s BIG Sing on the Ask Garden Stage. South African artist Thanda Gumede brings his award-winning voice and energy to Manchester, joined by the talented Olympias choir, made up of young people and families from the local community.

For those wanting to stretch, breathe, and move, we recommend Yoga With Gilly. This family-focused session is suitable for children aged 3 and up, and welcomes complete beginners. With fun movement and breathwork, it’s a great way to connect as a family. Pre-registration is required to reserve your free spot.

Curious kids and their grownups can step into a world of imagination with Z-arts’ Adventures in Wonderland. Created in partnership with Macmillan Children’s Books to mark 160 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this interactive experience invites children and families to take on their own magical journey.

Music fans with younger children will love Little Groovers, an award-winning music session for under-7s led by trained musicians. Packed with live music, percussion instruments, scarves, ribbons, bubbles, and a giant parachute, this fun-filled session is the perfect introduction to rhythm, movement, and group play.

Nature-lovers can join the team from Plant MCR for their Make Your Own Meadow workshop. Here, families can create a mini wildflower meadow in a pot to take home, perfect for attracting bees, butterflies, and even moths. It’s a lovely way to learn about nature and make something special together.

To round off the morning, look out for The Doctors of Music, roaming performers with a ‘prescription’ for fun. Dressed in lab coats but armed with instruments instead of stethoscopes, these quirky musical ‘doctors’ will bring jazz, laughter, and a few surprises as they interact with the crowd, hand out instruments, and recruit new ‘patients’ for spontaneous performances.

With no need to book for most activities and a whole morning of fun, First Street’s free family programme on 17 May is the perfect way to start the jazz festival.

Free event - Manchester Jazz Festival at HOME Manchester, Manchester 17 May 2025 Entrance is free Visit now

Performances

Date
Time
Session Features
17 May 2025
10:00am — 1:00pm

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

What's on at HOME Manchester

TESS at HOME: A woman holds four planks over her head, watched on by three women.
DanceManchester
Tess at HOME

A bold, breathtaking fusion of circus and storytelling, Ockham’s Razor transform Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles into a visceral, visually stunning spectacle.

from £21.20
North by Northwest at HOME: Five people stand centre stage with one arm raised in motion, as if all dancing in time.
Until
TheatreManchester
North by Northwest at HOME

Emma Rice returns to Manchester this spring with her take on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 espionage thriller – and it’s anything but a straight remake.

from £26.20
Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
CinemaManchester
Wes World at HOME

Take a trip back into the world of Wes Anderson this May as HOME present a series of the acclaimed auteur’s most beloved films alongside The Phoenician Scheme.

from £7.95

Where to go near Manchester Jazz Festival Family Activities

Manchester
Restaurant
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester

Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

The Ritz Manchester live music venue
Manchester
Music venue
The Ritz

The Ritz was originally a dance hall, built in 1928, has hosted The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and The Smiths and is still going strong as a gig venue now.

Homeground
Manchester
Event venue
Homeground

Homeground is HOME’s brand new outdoor venue, providing an open-air space for theatre, food, film, music, comedy and more.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Burgess Cafe Bar
at IABF

Small but perfectly-formed café – which also serves as the in-house bookstore, stocking all manner of Burgess-related works, along with recordings of his music. It’s a welcoming space, with huge glass windows making for a bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Rain Bar pub in Manchester
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Rain Bar

This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally patriotic name The Ancient Britain.

Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Castlefield
Gallery
Castlefield Gallery

The influential Castlefield Gallery sits at the edge of Manchester’s exciting Castlefield district, an ideal home for thought-provoking contemporary art.

What's on: Families

Two young visitors looking up at a banner in a case, holding pencils and an activity sheet.
Until
ActivityManchester
2025 Banner Bingo at PHM

Explore the People’s History Museum with your banner bingo card in hand as you navigate their galleries through the lens of craftivism.

free entry

Culture Guides

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.