January

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets – Streaming on Curzon Home Cinema

It’s the final night for Las Vegas dive bar The Roaring 20s, in Bill and Turner Ross’ extraordinary hybrid docu-fiction film Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets.

Discover Buxton Tram Tours

Enjoy a journey through time on Discover Buxton Tour’s unique vintage tram.

Discover Buxton Character Tours

These colourful character guides offer unique and entertaining insights into the history of some of Buxton’s most iconic buildings.

Discover Buxton Walking Tours

Have your history delivered by expert guides whose passion for the heritage of Buxton spills into the unexpected.

Discover Buxton Roman Tours

Join local historian Brian Shepherd for a walk around the town and learn what Buxton may have looked like during Britain’s Roman occupation.

Discover Buxton Audio Tours

Discover Buxton’s audio tours of The Peak cover the area around Buxton and are designed to be enjoyed from the comfort of your own vehicle.

World of Music Choir (Spring 2021)

Join the World of Music Choir to learn a mixture of traditional and modern tunes. With no previous experience necessary and an ethos of no judgement, it’s the most friendly introduction to group singing you could wish for.

Pakui Hardware at BALTIC in Gateshead

Lithuanian artist duo Pakui Hardware presents an immersive art installation about the future and ethics of virtual health care.

Handmade at the Whitworth

Join the Whitworth for a series of artist led sessions for over 50’s, where you’ll make your own handmade crafts and arts.

Hardeep Sahota: Bhangra Lexicon – Online

The world’s first ‘visual dictionary’ of movements found within Bhangra, compiled by World Bhangra Day founder, Hardeep Sahota.

My First Protest Song online with the People’s History Museum

My First Protest Song goes online. Round up the family and join Matt Hill for this live-streamed event full of toe-tapping tunes.

My First Protest Song – online

Join singer-songwriter Matt Hill for a performance of powerful and political songs from histories great songwriters in My First Protest Song.

NQ Jazz Live – Postponed

NQ Jazz have teamed up with The Stoller Hall and The Yard to bring us dozens of COVID-safe jazz events featuring established and emerging artists.

The Hallé – The Event Horizon

The Hallé are joined by poet laureate Simon Armitage, virtuoso saxophonist Jess Gillam and Former Hallé Assistant Conductor Jonathon Heyward.

One Night in Miami – Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

One Night in Miami is a fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the civil rights movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

BBC Radio 3: Manchester Week – Postponed

BBC Radio 3’s Manchester Week features 10 concerts by Manchester’s leading ensembles and soloists, performing at some of the city’s most prestigious music venues.

POSTPONED: Turn On Fest 2021 at Hope Mill Theatre

POSTPONED: This event has been postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We will bring you more information on the new dates of the festival as soon as we have them.

Kiara Mohamed: The Lives We Lead – Online with Bluecoat, Liverpool

Made during the first lockdown, The Lives We Lead by Kiara Mohamed captures some of the experiences of people living through this period.

New Year’s Obstructions – Online with Castlefield Gallery, Manchester

Castlefield Gallery invites you to submit your goals to a panel of artists who will give you a bespoke obstruction to make it harder for you! 

Tarot for Creative Writing: Major Arcana with Portico Library

Join Kym Deyn as they empower writers with the knowledge to harness the imagery of the tarot for creative writing. 

Little Bee online bedtime story with the People’s History Museum

Head on over to the Little People’s History Museum without leaving your own home… get ready for bed and settle in for a livestreamed story.

Online Short Story Course with Michelle Green

Here’s a great idea for a Christmas present – or perhaps it might be something to go on your New Year’s Resolutions list – an online course from Manchester’s Comma Press all about the short story, led by writer Michelle Green.

POSTPONED – AI: More than Human at World Museum Liverpool

Barbican’s major exhibition, AI: More than Human, comes to Liverpool, offering a tantlising look into the future.

Watercolour Paint with Art MCR

Enter the new year with an open mind and creative spark with this introductory workshop to watercolour paint, led by artist Sally Slide.

Manchester Collective: Dark Days, Luminous Nights at The White Hotel, Salford – POSTPONED

A highly immersive audio-visual experience that meditates on Manchester and Salford’s changing soul via a journey along their ruined waterway.

Cranford For Beginners Online Talk with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House

Join Libby Tempest, Chair of the Gaskell Society, for an introduction to the novel Cranford, a well-loved classic of Victorian literature.

The Hallé – Sibelius’s Third Symphony

The Hallé are joined by virtuoso pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason for Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, plus Sibelius’s magnificent Third Symphony.

Climate Change: Why Should We Care?

As part of the Science and Industry Museum’s Climate Talks, science broadcaster Dr Hannah Fry is joined by a panel of experts including famed conservationist Dr Jane Goodall to explore the big questions around Climate Change.

Makar to Makar with Jackie Kay

This online show mixing poetry, music and chat, headed by the Scots Makar Jackie Kay, had a successful 16-week run during the UK’s initial Lockdown and now it’s back with another seasonal special to celebrate Burns Night.

Each Sharper Halo double book launch online

Join poets Kyle Lovell and Maria Sledmere as they co-launch their new pamphlets, alongside readings from four guest readers, including Nell Osborne of Manchester’s very own premier avant reading series No Matter and contributor to Manchester Review of Books.

Creative Writing Workshop: Space Odyssey

Join Lauren and Stephanie from the Children’s Literature unit at Newcastle University, as they launch into space in search of your creative writing skills.

LOITER – Online

Proforma presents LOITER, a one-day-long live art festival that offers new perspectives on the urban environment.

The Fabric of Protest online

The Fabric of Protest brings textile enthusiasts and artists together to discuss topics from the museum and create personal responses.

The North Will Rise Again at Gorilla and The Invisible Wind Factory

Manchester and Liverpool unite to host The North Will Rise Again, a live-streamed micro-festival headlined by The Charlatans and The Lightning Seeds.

Lost Under Heaven at The White Hotel

Atmospheric rock duo Lost Under Heaven are performing two socially distanced live shows at The White Hotel this January.

Vision & Reality: 100 Years of Contemporary Art in Wakefield at The Hepworth Wakefield

100 years of contemporary art in one sitting? Feast your eyes at The Hepworth Wakefield and discover the story behind its remarkable collection.

MACFEST2021: Stand Up Comedy Performance with Jeff Mirza

MACFEST2021 kicks off at the end of January with a weekend festival not to be missed. As the finale to this initial events series Jeff Mirza, reminds us all that laughter heals.

Grayson’s Art Club at Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester

Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry presents a major exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery featuring work made by the nation during the initial weeks of lockdown.

Online Meditation with the Manchester Buddhist Centre

As we learn to live with uncertainty now is a better time than ever to explore meditation, let the friendly community at Manchester Buddhist Centre help you on this journey.

Trading Station: how hot drinks shape our lives at Manchester Art Gallery

Trading Station at Manchester Art Gallery charts the history and changing social role of hot drinks in our lives.

The Hallé – Christmas Concert

The Hallé’s free Christmas concert is now available to watch on YouTube, with special guest readers Lemn Sissay and Guy Garvey.

Utopias at the Whitworth

How have visions of utopia and the visual culture that helped form it impacted upon the Brexit debate? A new exhibition at the Whitworth explores.

The Little Library in Spinningfields

Take your pick from The Little Library’s carefully curated collection of classics and new releases, adding a recently read book of your own as a replacement.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Streaming on Mubi

Brittany, France 1770. Portrait painter Marianne (Merlant) is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse (Haenel), a reluctant bride to be who has just left the convent.

Bacurau – Streaming on Mubi

The follow-up to Aquarius from director Kleber Mendonça Filho, this time co-directing and co-writing with long term producer Juliano Dornelles merges sci-fi, the western, Brazilian bandit movies (cangaço) and horror for a highly original and ultra-violent look at a town under siege from a mysterious threat.

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants – Streaming on Curzon Home Cinema

Heart surgeon Juha has lived life at an unengaged distance since his wife’s passing. And although it is often debilitating, his grief also throws up some rather surprising sexual urges.

System Crasher – Streaming on Curzon Home Cinema

Controversial from the moment it premiered in Competition at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival, documentarian Nora Fingscheidt’s fiction feature debut portrays the life of a chaotic and troubled young girl.

Posters from the Irish civil rights era – Online with the Working Class Movement Library

Working Class Movement Library presents an online exhibition of powerful posters made by young activists fighting for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

The Living Planet – Online at FACT, Liverpool

FACT’s year-long programme, The Living Planet, seems even more timely than first imagined – and has been created for people to interact with and enjoy remotely for free online.

What it is to be here: Colonisation and Resistance – Online at The Portico Library

The Portico Library marks 250 years since British explorer James Cook first landed on the shores of what we now call Australia with an online exhibition that explores the history of violence and resistance that followed.

Homemakers

NOW EXTENDED: HOME have invited theatre and live art makers to create new works at home, for an audience who are also at home. 

The Gardener Digs in Another Time – Online at the Whitworth

the Whitworth in Manchester invites you to step into the garden as subject with an online version of its 2016 exhibition, The Gardener Digs in Another Time.

The Irishman – Streaming on Netflix

Martin Scorsese’s epic saga of organised crime in postwar America, The Irishman weaves an engrossing and intricate web of connected events, audaciously cutting back and forth across decades.

Marriage Story – Streaming on Netflix

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson excel as a couple whose once enviable union crumbles under the weight of mounting resentments and divergent needs.

Stop Making Sense – Streaming on BFI Player

Jonathan Demme x Talking Heads. Find out why Stop Making Sense is widely regarded as the greatest concert film ever made.

Black Narcissus – Streaming on Apple TV

Bigger Than Life presents a 35mm screening of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 film, Black Narcissus at Stockport Plaza on Sunday 2nd September with an introduction by film scholar, Andrew Moor.

Beach Rats – Streaming on Netflix

Frankie, an aimless Brooklyn teenager is having a miserable summer. With his father dying and his mother wanting him to find a girlfriend, Frankie escapes with his delinquent friends and flirts with older men online.

Rafiki – Streaming on BFI Player

Now showing on BFI Player is Wanuri Kahiu lyrical lesbian romance, Rafiki. Notable as the…

Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Streaming on Amazon Prime

One of the most noteworthy films to be released direct to streaming during lockdown so far, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a vital depiction of women’s rights in the contemporary United States.

Life Drawing Manchester Online Classes

The popular Northern Quarter community, Life Drawing Manchester, have migrated to zoom, opening up their classes to models and artists from all over the world.

Everything that rises must dance with HOME

Produced by Complicité for Homemakers: Join a virtual gathering of women for an online dance project celebrating female movement throughout history.

Shared reading live with The Reader

Join The Reader for their free sessions of lockdown-inspired literature every Tuesday from 1pm, and every first Thursday of the month at 7pm – it’s free and anyone can join in.

Hamilton – Streaming on Disney Plus

Politically charged with a hip-hop soundtrack, there is no doubt that this filmed performance is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2020.

Swallows and Amazons For Ever! at Windermere Jetty Museum

Celebrate the spirit of adventure, learn more about the Cumbrian landscape and uncover the inspiration behind Arthur Ransome’s classic tale.

Parasite – Streaming on Amazon Prime

Bong Joon-ho’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winning thriller finally hits UK cinema screens this February following months of awards, nominations and critical adulation.

What is Manchester Art Gallery? at Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester Art Gallery reopens with a thought-provoking new exhibition that delves into the history of the public institution and its role within the city.

She Dies Tomorrow – Streaming on Curzon Home Cinema

After waking up convinced that she is going to die tomorrow, Amy’s (Kate Lyn Sheil) belief begins to spread to those around her.

User Not Found: A Video Podcast with HOME

Exploring digital legacy and online identity, acclaimed theatre-makers Dante or Die are back with a video podcast version of their hugely successful show.

Don McCullin at Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool presents a major retrospective of work by Don McCullin, widely considered to be one of the greatest photojournalists of our time.

White Psyche at the Whitworth in Manchester

White Psyche at the Whitworth examines the aesthetics of white supremacy through the story of Cupid and Psyche – a classical tale of love and good looks.

Huma Bhabha: Against Time at BALTIC, Gateshead

Huma Bhabha’s strange cast of both ancient and futuristic seeming characters are due to arrive at BALTIC in Gateshead for an exhibition alluringly titled, Against Time.

The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue at BALTIC in Gateshead

The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue at BALTIC shines a light on a greatly under-recognised artist, whose work engages with questions of gender and identity.

Psappha 2020/21 Concert Season

Psappha’s 2020–21 season explores the sharpest and smartest sounds in contemporary classical music, presented in concert and streamed online for free.

Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire at Imperial War Museum North

Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire at Imperial War Museum North takes a close look at the moral dilemmas surrounding overseas aid.

Multiplicities in Flux at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester

CFCCA presents a two-person exhibition that challenges ideas of Britishness, belonging, identity and citizenship.

Omid Asadi: Autopsy of a Home at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art

For his exhibition at CFCCA, Omid Asadi explores the diasporic experiences and domestic spaces of migrants.

Mothers Who Make at HOME

Mothers Who Make is a support group for any kind of maker and any kind of mother. The groups meets to talk, share and emphasise with the challenges faced by creatives in mother (or grandmother) – hood.

On the Rocks – Streaming on Apple TV+

Escapades and hi-jinks in moneyed Manhattan, Sofia Coppola’s new film is a pleasurable throwback to the golden age of screwball comedy.

One Man and His Shoes – Streaming on BFI Player

British filmmaker Yemi Bamiro looks stateside as he surveys the Nike Air Jordan phenomenon.

The Sheffield Project at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield

Commissioned in the mid-1980s, The Sheffield Project focused a lens on a unique chapter in the city’s history, when it embarked on a journey of radical change.

Make Up – Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Cornwall has seldom seemed eerier than in Make-Up, the vivid first feature from director Claire Oakley.

Mogul Mowgli – Streaming on BFI Player

Although his cutting lyrics speak provocatively about identity politics, it is not until Zed (Riz Ahmed) returns home after two years on tour that he is called by his real name: Zaheer.

Shirley – Streaming on Curzon Home Cinema

Josephine Decker’s psychodrama blurs the boundaries of biopic and fiction in exploring the cruel forces that can feed creativity.

L– A City Through Its People at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool

Open Eye Gallery pays tribute to the proud city it calls home with three exhibitions about the people who live there.

Small Axe – Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Small Axe is a brand new series of films set in Londons West Indian community from 12 Years A Slave director, Steve McQueen.

Fabric of the North: Gift Directory

Fabric of the North is a blog with an excellent gift directory. They champion independents maker from across the North who are creating beautiful and ethical work.

Patrick – Streaming On Demand

Patrick is a 38 year old handyman at his parents’ naturist campground. When his prize hammer is stolen, Patrick’s quest to solve the mystery of its’ theft leads to a much deeper mystery – who is he himself?

Fun & Games: Playtime, Past & Present at The Portico Library and Online

Fun & Games at The Portico Library explores the evolution and traditions of games and play throughout the ages up to today.

The Apartment – Streaming on YouTube

One of the quintessential New Year’s films, The Apartment is also one of director Billy Wilder’s best-loved and most acerbic works.

Northern Lights Writers’ Conference 2020: Digital Edition

The seventh consecutive Northern Lights Writers’ Conference presents a series of free online events for emerging and established writers, with recorded events still available to watch online via the Diverge digital hub.

Possessor – Streaming on Modern Films

Tasya Vos is a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of the company.

German Revolution Expressionist Prints at Lady Lever Art Gallery

Schiele, Munch, Picasso – Lady Lever Art Gallery’s latest exhibition features some of the most influential European artists of the early 20th century.

#WELCOME? at the People’s History Museum

#WELCOME? at the People’s History Museum explores the wider impact of media coverage and changing immigration controls.

The Hallé Winter Season 2020/21

The Hallé returns to the stage for a streamed Winter Season packed with world premieres, Manchester originals, the familiar and the new.

The Hallé – Fanfare for the Hallé

The first concert in the Hallé’s Winter Season sees Sir Mark Elder conduct two glorious Romantic works plus a world premiere by Huw Watkins.

Sean Edwards: Undo Things Done at Bluecoat in Liverpool

Undo Things Done, a poetic inquiry into place, politics and class intertwined with personal histories, takes as its starting point Sean Edwards’ experience of growing up on a council estate in Cardiff in the 1980s.

Obstructions at Castlefield Gallery & Online

Castlefield Gallery presents ‘Obstructions’ – a rather unconventional group show about the freedoms within restriction, and rules that are sometimes there to be broken.

The Hallé – Roderick Williams sings Butterworth

The Hallé is joined by baritone Roderick Williams for a programme of works that reflect on the poignancy and fragility of human life.

Wolfwalkers – Streaming on Apple TV+

Aspiring young aspiring hunter Robyn Goodfellowe arrives in Ireland alongside her father, who has been tasked with exterminating a local wolf pack.

Unhappy at being left behind while her father sets to work, Robyn ventures into the local forest where she meets Mebh (Eva Whittaker) and is inadvertently drawn into the world of the wolfwalkers — an endangered tribe who transform into wolves when they sleep. There have been favourable comparisons with the work of famed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, in part due to the gorgeous two dimensional style which combines woodcut design and free, expressive hand drawing.

Those comparisons also take into account Wolfwalkers’ focus on childhood and fables, as well as its interest in balance in the natural world. Moore is a co-founder of Kilkenny studio Cartoon Saloon who co-produce here with Melusine Productions, and there is a throughline here from his Irish-folklore themed previous features The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea.

The film has been compared to the work of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli due not only to the beautiful hand drawn animation techniques, but its interest in magic, balance and the natural world. This is absolutely an Irish production though, right from its traditional stylings to the voice work from Kildare’s Eva Whittaker, who graces the film with a wonderfully feral performance as troublemaking wolfwalker, Mebh.

Aliza Nisenbaum at Tate Liverpool

International portrait artist Aliza Nisenbaum will present a new painting at Tate Liverpool this winter, depicting members of the city’s key workers.

The Cooper Prize 2021

The inaugural Cooper Prize picks up where the prestigious and long-running South Yorkshire Open left off, and invites submissions from artists at all stages in their career, be they established professionals and amateurs or emerging recent graduates and students.

Half an Hour of Calm with Mindful Manchester

Join Breathworks teacher Bridget Fitzpatrick on a Wednesday morning or evening for half an hour of calm, where you can focus on just being rather than doing.

Shiverpool: Ghost and History Tours

Expect chilling street theatre and immersive thrills as the award winning Shiverpool return to Liverpool’s streets.

Postal Exhibition Print Programme from OUTPUT

OUTPUT in Liverpool launches a new programme of mail-based exhibitions, sending original artwork directly to your home.

African Apocalypse – Streaming on BFI Player

When British-Nigerian poet and activist Femi Nylander discovered Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the novel that Barack Obama claims helped him understand why ‘white people are afraid’, he was immediately drawn to understanding this distorted vision of Africa.

American Utopia – Streaming on Amazon Prime

In his wildly popular Broadway show American Utopia, David Byrne reflects on human connections, life and how on earth we work through it.

The Woman Who Ran – Streaming on MUBI

While her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends. She visits the first two at their homes, and the third she encounters by chance at a theatre.

Babyteeth – Streaming on Netflix

Babyteeth, the debut feature from Australian director Shannon Murphy, balances heartbreak and humour, with a little grit, as it depicts one teenager’s struggle with cancer.