What's on near Middlewood Locks
In the centenary year of the 1926 General Strike, People’s History Museum traces a century of industrial action and collective resistance.
Free entry
RNCM students perform new music inspired by Manchester’s protest history, after hours at the national museum of democracy.
From £13.00
With a miniature steam railway, working engines and a percussion group inspired by industry, the Science and Industry Museum brings play with a point.
Free entry
This world-premiere exhibition offers a hands-on journey through the Solar System, making complex science tangible, playful and participatory.
From £10.00
In 1830, the world’s first fully operational, steam-powered passenger railway opened between Liverpool and Manchester. Take a closer look at this breakthrough moment.
From £20.00
In a live, 24-hour performance, Ai Weiwei will place himself back inside a room that once governed every aspect of his daily life.
From £10.00
A major new dance work brings Sinéad O’Connor’s uncompromising voice back into the room, responding to a life lived against the grain.
From £10.00
Explore the ways in which Manchester helped shape and reinforce the ideas of the fathers of communism, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.
From £20.00Where to go near Middlewood Locks
Caustic Coastal is a gallery, artist studios and independent art label based in Salford, working as a curatorial platform for artists.
A former cotton spinning mill, Islington Mill in Manchester now houses artists’ studios, galleries, a recording studio, a nightclub, cafe and B&B.
Part of Salford Makers, 7 Spot is a 360 square foot ceramics studio offering classes and workshops as well as studio space for members.
Salford Makers are a collective of artists, designers, educators and makers based at Islington Mill in Salford.
Taste the ultimate in authentic Italian cuisine at Vero Moderno.
A great little cafe where you’ll find good food and excellent Jazz.
Small, perfectly formed, the newly-reopened New Oxford packs a real-ale punch.
This warehouse located behind Islington Mill is being brought into creative use by Manchester’s underground music scene.
This Chapel Street gallery and tea room hosts 8-12 week long exhibitions giving emerging artists a chance to showcase their work.
One of Salford’s finest churches and also, unusually, a live music venue
Factory Square is a huge beer garden, on the banks of the River Irwell, with top-quality drinks and street food selections.
This old school pub not only offers a great selection of drinks and food, but also live music nights and a lively atmosphere.
Manchester District Guides
Culture Guides
From drone metal to art pop, free festivals to gigs in museums, here's one of our more eclectic music updates.
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.
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.