Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

MINDSCAPES

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

Visit now

MINDSCAPES

19 April-16 May 2021

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

Free
Mindscapes: Soundpaths
Image courtesy of Brighter Sound /SICK! Festival.
Book now

Created by SICK! Festival, MINDSCAPES is a collection of five inspirational brand-new artworks and online events happening in Manchester for free this spring.

With an exciting year-round programme of activity, SICK! Festival makes just the kind of art we crave: challenging, entertaining and always looking to change the world for the better. Working with marginalised communities, SICK! aims to tackle those subjects which are often kept hidden from public view and debate. Produced by SICK!, MINDSCAPES is the result of an exciting two-year collaboration between artists in Manchester and The Netherlands who have been working creatively with people from local communities in Manchester.

Brand-new artworks and online events happening in Manchester for free this spring.

For MINDSCAPES,  artworks will be popping up around the city – you’ll find them in public spaces like parks and Metrolink stations and also online. Perfectly accessible for everyone to enjoy and talk about, the works are set to explore how the spaces around us – the city, our neighbourhoods and our homes – affect our mental health and the way we navigate through our lives. For the last 12 months, we’ve all spent a lot more time at home – anchored to our local area – due to the coronavirus pandemic and current travel restrictions. MINDSCAPES cleverly taps into this shared human experience to open up an important conversation around mental health and the places we inhabit.

Opening up an important conversation around mental health and the places we inhabit.

Featuring a varied programme, MINDSCAPES will bring public artwork, digital games, poetry on the streets and an interactive phone app.

In addition to the five new commissions, there will also be online talks, discussions and film screenings exploring the MINDSCAPES project and its central themes around mental health and where we live.

Accessibility

  • British Sign Language
  • Captioned

Where to go near MINDSCAPES

Proloco
Manchester
Restaurant
Proloco

Honest Crust’s Richard Carver and Rainy Heart’s Dan Hope join forces at Proloco, a music-led Ancoats restaurant serving 18-inch pizzas and seasonal plates.

City Centre
Restaurant
GiGi Gusto Griglia

GiGi is a lavish Italian restaurant just off Deansgate, with 1950s décor and a menu that sticks to the classics.

Blackburn
Restaurant
Northcote

Northcote’s Michelin-starred restaurant is the jewel in the crown of the Ribble Valley. We get a first look at the new autumnal menu.

Cumbria
Restaurant
Pentonbridge Inn

Pentonbridge Inn is a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in north Cumbria. Eight courses of bunkum-free fine dining from head chef Chris Archer.

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.

See all places

What's on: Festivals

–
MusicChapel Street
FaT OuT 26

FaT OuT is back with one long, dark night of loud music and underground performance split between two legendary venues: The White Hotel and The DBA.

From £ 10
Compass Festival 2026
–
FestivalsLeeds
Compass Festival 2026

With interactive encounters and live performance, Compass Festival is set to animate the city of Leeds once again this November.

Free entry

Culture Guides

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

It's autumn and time to get scheduling those hearty meals. Here's the October guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

Exhibitions

It’s a good season for contemporary art fans in Manchester, with many of our favourite small galleries launching something big.

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre

Shakespearean tragedy, indie musical theatre, live art and beautifully strange dance-theatre – four standout picks for autumn.

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.

See all guides