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.
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
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.
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.
Musical brutalism is having a moment – and Mandy, Indiana are right in it, bringing URGH’s raw force to Brudenell.
From £15.00
From cult hero to global collaborator, Thundercat is back with his first album in six years, and a headline show at Aviva Studios.
From £37.50
Quiet introspection and cathartic eruptions – the mysterious kids in the corner of the Brixton Windmill scene bring their new album Somersaults to YES.
From £17.45
Factory Spotlight hands the mic to After the Applause for a free live edition celebrating the launch of season two of the Manchester podcast.
Free entry
One of the country’s foremost festivals showcasing new and emerging talent, Sounds From The Other City is back over Early May Bank Holiday.
From £30
Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Angel’s Bone brings a dark contemporary parable about exploitation, coercion and the abuse of power.
From £10.00
A new live staging of Bronski Beat’s The Age of Consent revisits a landmark queer pop album through contemporary voices.
From £10.00
Pixies bring two nights of feral alternative rock to Aviva Studios this May, marking 40 years of the band
From £55.00
Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.
Closer, riskier, more immediate. Our small-scale theatre picks stretch from unsettling fables about nationhood to the inner workings of a mind trying to hold itself together.
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.
This month’s live music picks move between ambitious new work, grassroots celebrations and a few memorable settings.
Spring has arrived, bringing with it al fresco dining and a rush of high-profile food and drink-related events in Manchester.
Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.
