Things to Do in Manchester

Creative Tourist

Last Updated 4 April 2018

Spend a day in the city and it rapidly becomes apparent just how much it has reinvented its industrial past into a new, trendsetting present – and an ambitious future. There’s plenty of things to do in Manchester too, from award-winning theatre and exhibitions to an exciting food and drink offer and thriving literature and music scenes.

Discover our top picks

Theatre 8 February–2 March 2019, from £10.00

Mother Courage and her Children at the Royal Exchange

A sharp new adaptation of Brecht’s classic – Mother Courage and her Children – written by Anna Jordan and headed up by Julie Hesmondhalgh in the title role.

Chinternet Ugly at Chinese Centre for Contemporary Art

Exhibitions 8 February–12 May 2019, FREE

Chinternet Ugly at Centre for ChineseContemporary Art

CFCCA presents Chinternet Ugly – a group exhibition that offers a rare glimpse behind the biggest digital boundary in the world: the Great Firewall of China.

Exhibitions 8 February–29 March 2019, FREE

Simeon Barclay: Life Room at The Holden Gallery

The Holden Gallery presents ‘Simeon Barclay: Life Room’, featuring new work by an artist from Huddersfield who discovered glamour, theatricality and a sense of aspiration between the pages of ‘Vogue’, and a love for industrial fabricating techniques during 16 years spent on the factory floor.

Cinema 7–28 February 2019, FREE

Bigger Than Life/ Four Films by Stephen Cone at Number 70, Oxford Street

Bigger Than Life and Research in Arts and Humanities at Manchester Met present the first UK retrospective of the films of American independent film director Stephen Cone, at No. 70, Oxford Road this February.

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Exhibitions 26 January–17 March 2019, FREE

David Bethell: Fleeting Flights at HOME

Combining ambition and futility, folly and hope; will British artist David Bethell’s wooden balloon speak to our current age? The artist’s wonderfully enigmatic exhibition Fleeting Flights at HOME looks set to mark an exciting new point in his career.

Festivals 1 January–31 December 2019,

HOME 2019 Season

With a continuing drive towards bold global programming, HOME Manchester welcomes friends, old and new, for an exhilarating new season.

Festivals 1 January–11 May 2019,

The Lowry Spring Summer Season

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Opera North, Northern Broadsides and Matthew Bourne’s stunning choreography are among our top picks of The Lowry’s new season.

Festivals 4–21 July 2019, from £12.00

MIF19 – Manchester International Festival

Manchester International Festival announces that Yoko Ono, Idris Elba and Skepta are among the artists set to feature in the 2019 programme.

Theatre 1 February–13 June 2019,

Contact In The City Part Three

Contact In The City Part Three – is a radical city-wide programme of performance taking place whilst Contact’s theatre undergoes an exciting transformation. Read our preview of the upcoming season.

Poppy, Esme, Oleanna, Gracie and Kate, 2014. Personal Feeling is the main thing - Chantal Joffe at The Lowry, Salford

Exhibitions 19 May 2018–24 February 2019, FREE

Salford Royal Academy Takeover

To mark its 250th birthday, the Royal Academy of Arts in London has launched a nationwide programme of exhibitions, displays, tours, talks and one-off events. Here we take a look at what’s going on in Salford – home of RA LS Lowry and now a growing independent art scene.