Gorton Cultural Festival – Family Fun Day

Shekina Rose, Families Editor

Visit now

Gorton Cultural Festival - Family Fun Day

13 September 2025

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

rtr
Book now

The summer holidays may have come to an end (how fast did they go?) but the fun never, ever stops in Manchester. This September, head to the Gorton Cultural Family Festival, where culture comes out to play.

Get ready for a day of activities that might just keep the kids quiet for five minutes, from live performances to hands-on workshops, games, storytelling, maybe just maybe some dancing, and (very importantly) lots of delicious food!

It will be a celebration of community and diversity and that simple, wonderful joy that happens when you mix creativity with sugar and sunshine (we live in hope that there will be sunshine). But regardless of the weather it will be a great day out. There will be colour. There will be noise. There will hopefully be that one enthusiastic dad attempting a samba, perhaps, and lots of kids having a laugh and running around – rain or shine.

So bring the kids, the grandparents, the cousin who insists they’re “just here for the food,” and come experience a day where art, music and culture combine in the best possible way.

The Gorton Cultutral Family Festival is free to attend. All ages welcome, so bring your babies and your grandmas. No excuses.

Where to go near Gorton Cultural Festival – Family Fun Day

Manchester
Restaurant
Dahlia Stereo

Dahlia Stereo is a Latin American-inspired open-fire kitchen and bar off the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square, with a pitch perfect soundsystem.

Balance Taproom
Manchester
Restaurant
Balance Taproom

Manchester has a glut of taprooms, and Balance Brewing’s is far and away the best. Drinks, decor, service – all a cut above.

Richard Hards ‘Strangeways’
Manchester
Gallery
Moon Grove

A Georgian front room in Rusholme houses Moon Grove, an independent gallery with an unusually ambitious international programme.

In Focus: Chinese Contemporary Art.
Manchester
Gallery
New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery

New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery opened in 2016, providing a permanent space to showcase the University of Salford Art Collection within the New Adelphi School of Arts and Media.

Cumbria
Restaurant
1863 Restaurant

1863 offers a seven-course Lake District tasting menu that overdelivers at every turn. Cumbrian ingredients, clever ideas and classical cooking techniques.

City Centre
Bar or Pub
Schofield’s Bar

Schofield’s could be Manchester’s most grown-up bar. Very precise drinks in an upmarket city centre venue. It’s not cheap, hey, but true class costs.

Manchester
Restaurant
Sampa

Sampa’s underground space is the perfect place to learn about both her new mind-expanding dishes and vintage sherries, reimagined for the late 2020s.

Northern Quarter
Restaurant
Sicilian NQ

Busy backstreet Sicilian restaurant in the Northern Quarter, serving up traditional dishes with well-executed vegan versions that more than match up.

What's on: Families

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre

Contemporary performance, verbatim theatre, dark comedy and a bold vision of Gaza - an eclectic mix for the start of autumn.

Nwando Ebizie and Sidiki Dembélé wear jewel-toned clothes against a midnight blue backdrop.
Music

Returning legends, their noisy heirs and centuries-old music made new – all in our latest guide update.

Food and Drink in the North

Step into autumn safe in the knowledge that you have the North's very best mid-September guide to food and drink in Manchester and beyond.

Exhibitions

Our latest exhibition picks include a lost recording of the Strangeways protest, Manchester's first sound art festival, and queer archives revisited.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

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.