What's on near Middlewood Locks
See out 2025 in sky-high style at 20 Stories, for dinner, drinks and DJs with Manchester glittering far below.
From £75.00
Experience the sights, smells and sounds of the engine-driven ideas and industry that started in Manchester and went on to change the world.
Free entry
The Science and Industry Museum is brightening the holidays with a season of hands-on science, playful illusions and family-friendly discovery.
Free entry
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
A sense-sational exhibition returns to Manchester in 2025.
From £10.00
Artist Social for all creatives at any stage for their career to network, mingle and connect with Factory International.
Experience the work of David Hockney like never before in Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) at Aviva Studios.
From £11.50Where 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
Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.
Step away from the usual. Tours and activities that spark curiosity, inspire creativity and offer something refreshingly different.
This season, exhibitions across the North West feel attuned to the world beneath the world – the forces and stories shaping how we see, feel and imagine.
Theatre across the North West splits between festive escape and sharp, urgent work exploring politics, power and resistance.
Manchester’s closing out the year – and looking to the new one – with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.
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.
Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.