What's on near Spectrum Studio
Join Craft Beer Tour Manchester for a journey through some of the cities best local breweries and artisanal beer serving bars. Discover the personality of Manchester’s beer through a diverse
From £45
Band on the Wall bring people together to make, as well as watch, music. Join them to learn folk tunes from all over the world.
Kelly Lee Owens brings her dreampoppy electronica to Band on the Wall as part of this year’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival.
From £30
This walking tour explores the neighbourhood’s streets, stories and hidden corners, offering a closer look at the places and people that have made Manchester.
From £12.00
Create stunning pottery, jewellery, sketches, watercolours and more with the vast array of craft workshops at MCDC.
From £45.00
Explore the fascinating history of Brutalism in Manchester, while also exploring the movement’s wider intentions and ideals.
From £20.00
Marking its 40th anniversary, esea contemporary looks forward rather than back with a group exhibition that probes ideas of transition.
Free entry
Join Joe Feeley a Mancunian through and through, who guides you into Manchester’s two pillars of cultural excellence with his Rock and Goal tour.
From £9.99Where to go near Spectrum Studio
Started by artisan baker Russell Goodwin, Companio Bakery sells freshly-baked bread from a small unit in Manchester’s Ancoats.
This café in Ancoats is locally famed for its lunchtime deals and sandwiches
Blossom Street Social is a wonderful Ancoats bar, with a vast selection of wine.
A hip hop-inspired, non-traditional chip shop, now based in Ancoats.
Manchester’s only Michelin-starred restaurant.
Cocoa Cabana is a highly-rated chocolatiers based in Ancoats, serving up decadent artisan chocolates, cakes, sweet treats and cocktails.
Perfectly-formed, eye-catching small plates with a focus on environmentally-friendly practices.
Popular bakery in the Ancoats and New Islington area, specialising in sourdough bread and viennoiserie baked goods.
Cask in Ancoats opened in November 2018, it is the flashy sister bar to Cask on Liverpool Road.
Ancoats-based bar and restaurant, specialising in cocktails, British small plates, weekend brunch and Sunday roasts.
Flawd is a neighbourhood wine bar based in Ancoats, from the team behind the wonderful Higher Ground dining experience.
Culture Guides
Closer, riskier, more immediate. Focusing on smaller stages, our latest theatre picks stretch from unsettling fables about nationhood to the inner workings of a mind trying to hold itself together.
Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.
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.