Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
White Lies are celebrating the 10th anniversary of To Lose My Life with a unique tour, during which they’ll perform the album in its entirety. Don’t miss them at Manchester Academy this October.
This 18-acre park opposite the Manchester Royal Infirmary provides a welcome patch of green in an otherwise densely populated and heavily used part of the city.
Basement venue at the University of Manchester Students’ Union building.
Built in the late 19th centure, the Holy Name sites in the middle of the University of Manchester.
Brilliant venue for catching a touring band on the rise. The boringly titled Academy 3 or more interesting Hop and Grape, as it was once known, is a self contained…
Manchester Museum’s cafe is run by the people behind award-winning cafe Teacup Kitchen. The menu features home-baked cakes, the finest loose leaf teas and breakfast, as well as a wide selection of mains and meals for kids.
Rarely-opened neo-Gothic gem that’s part of the University of Manchester.
The Martin Harris Centre is a performance space off Manchester’s Oxford Road
Want Not Waste is a student-run, not-for-profit zero waste shop operating out of Academy 1 at the University of Manchester Students’ Union.
Celebrating its 200th year in 2024, The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK, and boasts come incredible cultural institutions, found on campus, across Manchester and…
Big Hands is the one-time haunt of legendary Manchester band Elbow; it’s shabby, loud and dark, with a jukebox and excellent roof terrace.
Kro Bar, Manchester is an independent pub and music venue housed (somewhat ironically) in the former Temperance Society building.
Two songs in, Manchester’s MLEKO are already building a cult following, blending beauty and abrasion to devastating effect.
From £11.80
A record that began with rice cookers and an easel is now coming to Salford. Trust the process.
From £20.20
See through the eyes of an astronaut in this epic concert and visual experience, Space Station Earth at Aviva Studios. .
From £15.00
A key name in a local music scene increasingly coming to national attention, SILVERWINGKILLER bring their maximalist electronic punk to The White Hotel.
From £11.50
The Untold Orchestra bring musical theatre hits to RNCM’s Young Explorers, opening orchestral music into something looser, more collective and fun.
From £8.00
The RNCM launches its second Inspirational Artists series, spotlighting a huge range of touring musicians and ensembles, each bringing something unique to the stage.
From £12.50
This Lankum offshoot treats Irish mythology not as inspiration but as raw material for drone and industrial noise.
From £17.30
The UK’s biggest celebration of African music and culture returns to Sefton Park this summer with a line-up including Malian singer and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara.
From £6.00
There’s been lamb, there’s been champagne, there’s been okra. Look at what you could have eaten, then plan the next few weeks accordingly.
Dark comedy, visceral dance theatre, Fringe hits and open-air performances on a railway viaduct - try something new this season.
From post-it-sized art to commissions that fill entire gallery walls, five exhibitions ask what the overlooked reveals.
From manifesto-wielding DJs to bands blurring gigs with performance art, our music guide is newly stocked with artists who see live music as a place for risk.
Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.
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.
Step away from the usual. Tours and activities that spark curiosity, inspire creativity and offer something refreshingly different.
