October half term is here once again, and that means there’ll be plenty of parents across Greater Manchester on the look-out for activities to occupy the kids.
Half term is the time most kids look forward to but most parents, carers, and guardians tend to dread, as it usually means having to search around for various different ways to keep the youngsters entertained, educated, and engaged, all while making sure they’re still enjoying themselves – which is, undoubtedly, a real task.
But this year, with the rising cost of living crisis continuing to make its impact felt nationwide, and more families struggling with their finances than ever before, finding ways to pass the time over half term is trickier than ever as many are looking to keep things on a budget.
Luckily, the bustling city of Manchester and everything it has to offer has got you covered.
From family-friendly art exhibitions and educational festivals, to exploring a brand-new city centre park, a whole host of Halloween activities, and so much more, there’s lots of things to do in our city over half term for free of charge.
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Here’s a round-up of just 10 things you could be getting up to this week.
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Pokémon: Art Through the Ages
Trafford Centre
A Pokémon art trail and treasure hunt-style event has taken over the Trafford Centre for the next couple of weeks, and it’s absolutely free to get involved with.
‘Pokémon: Art Through the Ages’ gives fans of all ages – but especially little Mancs – the chance to discover hidden art of the 151 Pokémon that were originally discovered in the Kanto region through an interactive trail, which event organisers say showcases “a wide variety of artistic techniques and styles” from across the ages.
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There’s cave paintings, stained glass, and more for families and Pokémon fans to enjoy free of charge.
Manchester Science Festival / Credit: Science Museum Trust
Manchester Science Festival has made a glorious return for 2022, with events for all ages taking place at the Science and Industry Museum and other venues across the city for free.
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This year’s event is celebrating science through immersive performances, interactive activities, and after-hours amusement, with highlights across the festival – including a headline exhibition Turn It Up: The Power of Music, a nocturnal nature tour, and a chance to meet people who already work in STEM careers, including experts from festival sponsors Amazon.
The museum’s 1830 Warehouse will be a hive of futuristic activity throughout the festival, showcasing new technologies, hands-on experiments, and the chance to play Rock, Paper, Scissors against a prosthetic counterpart.
Families can also plant and take home their own saplings as City of Trees show the role that trees play in helping to reduce the effects of the climate crisis, and can chat to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust to learn about how to keep nature in their neighbourhoods.
You can find out about everything happening at this year’s Manchester Science Festival here.
Halloween in the City & MCR Monsters
Manchester City Centre
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MCR Monsters / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
Looking for some free Halloween-themed activities this half term? Well you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled, as the iconic MCR Monsters are back once again.
Just as they have been doing for the past couple of years now, a while host of giant inflatable monsters have started looming and creeping over buildings across the city centre this week to transform some of our most well-known landmarks with tentacles and googly eyes and pointy teeth for a FREE monsters trail that kids absolutely love.
And this year, the trail is bigger than ever before, with 14 monsters to spot around town.
The MCR Monsters are part of this year’s Halloween in the City celebrations, where families are encouraged to don their best fancy dress and join in.
Some of the free events to look forward to this weekend include the Monsters Rock! Party Procession, with stilt walkers, monster puppets, and a five-piece band mingling with shoppers weaving through Manchester Arndale and Market Street, and the Creepy Carnival made up of a carousel, helter skelter, street food, and circus performers sprawling across New Cathedral Street.
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You can find out more about Halloween in the City 2022 here.
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People’s History Museum
Manchester
People’s History Museum / Credit: People’s History Museum
The People’s History Museum is one of the best places to take the kids for some education fun for free this half term.
The award-winning museum in the heart of Manchester city centre has got a wide range of exhibitions and activities happening throughout the week at its several galleries and event spaces – including a 2022 Banner Exhibition, which gives you the chance to come face to face with the handiwork of the people who fought for the rights we have today, and play some banner bingo too.
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You can also see The Manchester Agronaught, check out the dedicated exhibitions for Black History Month 2022, and so much more.
You can find out more about what’s happening at the People’s History Museum this half term here.
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Mayfield Park
Castlefield
Have you had the chance to visit Manchester‘s first new park in the heart of the city centre for more than 100 years yet? This half term couldn’t be a more ideal time to see it for yourself.
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It’s been a long journey to get here, but Mayfield Park has become a reality, and it’s now open for the public to enjoy.
Over the last 18 months, the vast and mostly-derelict former industrial site next to Piccadilly Station has been transformed into what project developers are calling a “stunning, accessible, and varied” green space for everyone who visits the city centre to make the most of.
Mayfield Park / Credit: Studio Egret West
As well as being a green oasis full of fresh blooms and beautifully-landscaped river walkways, there’s also a big play area for kids with a huge slide as the centrepiece.
Windows of Youth Creativity – We Made It / Credit: Wild In Art
Windows of Youth Creativity – We Made It is the latest exhibition by Wild In Art.
It will see 10 large windows and spaces transformed at prominent Manchester venues as part of a project commissioned by Manchester City Council to showcase creative disciplines such as photography, illustration, dance, sculpture, street art, mosaic, poetry and model making.
Taking place across the city, the trail will include giant robots at the Science and Industry Museum, photographs taken by young people living in East Manchester at the National Football Museum, a special installation at the Royal Exchange, and coral beds and mosaic sea creatures created by young people with special educational needs at the Town Hall Annex.
The project will celebrate youth creativity, and the diverse communities that live across the city.
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You can find out more about the exhibition and art trail here.
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Welcome Wednesday
Victoria Baths
Welcome Wednesday / Credit: Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths’ popular Welcome Wednesday event is being given a family friendly transformation for the half term this week, and a wide range of free activities will be on offer to entertain families throughout the day.
You can take part in a Stained Glass Window Workshop inspired by all the brightly-coloured patterned windows that are one of the amazing features of Victoria Baths, and have a go at making your own stained glass-style window decoration to take home, or visit the colouring station to do some creative drawing and the toy station so the little ones can spend some time playing.
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There’s also the chance to take free guided tours around the historic building and learn more about some of its quirky features.
Entry to Victoria Baths is free on Welcome Wednesdays, but donations are welcome – which all help to maintain the building for the community.
Halloween Spooktacular / Credit: New Century | The Manc Group
If you’re still in the mood for some more frightening free fun, then Manchester’s beautifully-restored new social destination, New Century, is hosting its very-own Halloween Spooktacular event this Sunday 30 October, and there’s a full day of themed events and activities for little Mancs planned to take over the whole space.
Free family fun events will be hosted both in the hall upstairs and downstairs kitchens – including frightful face painting, a bogey man bouncy castle, a photobooth, spooky workshops from the NOMA team, and plenty of food and drink available.
The upstairs space will also be transformed into a ‘Hellish Halloween Hall’ for the occasion, complete with a spooky light show courtesy of the iconic disco ceiling.
You can find out more about Halloween Spooktacular at New Century here.
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Power UP
Science and Industry Museum
Power UP / Credit: Science Museum Group
A huge gaming event has returned to Manchester, and it’s free for everyone to get stuck into.
With more than 160 consoles and hundreds of games to play, Power UP is back at the Science and Industry Museum for the first time in three years, and in case you haven’t heard, it’s been taking people on a journey through five decades of gaming – with everything from retro arcade games, to state-of-the-art virtual reality, and so much more.
Power UP is taking place every day throughout October half term, and each weekend all the way through to December 2023 – with each free ticket including unlimited play all day.
Looking for even more things to do in Greater Manchester this week? You can read our full ‘what’s on’ events round up here.
Featured Image – HalloweenMCR | Science Museum Group | People’s History Museum
What's On
A huge festival dedicated to tequila and mezcal is coming to Manchester this month
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s first-ever Mezcal and Tequila Festival is taking place this month, filling Manchester Cathedral with tastings, masterclasses, cocktails and street food.
The massive event will see the Grade I-listed building transformed into an agave spirits tasting floor, featuring more than 100 varieties of premium tequilas and mezcals from some of Mexico’s best producers including El Jimador, Ojo de Tigre, El Sueno, Los Arcos, Del Maguey, Cazcabel, Komos, Nixta, Tapatio, El Tequileno, Tiempo and many more.
Festival-goers will be able to gain exclusive insights into the craftsmanship behind these spirits, sampling (responsibly, of course) from dozens of stands.
All samples, plus a limited-edition clay tasting copita, will be included in the ticket price – there’s no token system here and no extra charges for samples.
The new Mexican-inspired drinks festival only debuted in Glasgow back in Spring 2023 but it unsurprisingly went down an absolute storm – after all, what’s not to like a big festival full of booze?
Bartenders will stir up cocktails at the bespoke cocktail bar while the crowds are kept fed by delicious street food, including Mexican-inspired Taco Or Don’t, previously featured at the British Streetfood Awards.
And it’d be remiss of you to leave the festival empty-handed when you can take a taste of Mexico home from the exclusive bottle shop provided by Drinkmonger on site (with discount tokens included in the ticket price).
A tequila and mezcal festival is heading on Manchester. Credit: Supplied
Colin Campbell, one of Copita’s co-founders said: “We’re really excited to be bringing Copita to Manchester. It’s gone down brilliantly in Glasgow the last two years so we felt now was the right time to take it on the road and we couldn’t think of a better place than Manchester to head to next!
“It’s a really easy-going event with a great atmosphere, lots of local street food, shopping and music, so whether you’re an aficionado or a casual sipper we’re confident you’ll have a great time.”
The Copita Mezcal and Tequila Festival will be at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday 14 September.
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 9 – 15 September 2024
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our second full week of September now, and summer is already beginning to feel like a distant memory.
For many people, the end of summer can sometimes mean the end of all the fun and the start of the cosy season, but as we head into autumn, there’s still absolutely no shortage of things for all the family to be getting up to across Greater Manchester.
If you’re finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though, we’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide this week.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Heritage Open Days 2024
Greater Manchester
Monday 9 – Sunday 15 September
Heritage Open Days / Credit: Chris Lacey | Paul Harris (via HODs)
The UK’s largest festival of history and culture has returned this week, and there’s thousands of free events on the lineup.
Back by popular demand, the National Trust’s ‘Heritage Open Days’ are run by thousands of local organisations and volunteers, and they’re all about bringing people together to celebrate their culture, community, and history.
From historic houses, factories, and museums, to music halls, formal gardens, and graveyards, countless of places and spaces across the country – including loads here in Greater Manchester – are open to the public, all without having to spend a penny.
Find out more about everything on the lineup here.
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Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine
Science and Industry Museum
Monday 9 September – onwards
Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine / Credit: Science Museum Group
More than 100 objects and stories collected during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic are now on display as part of a new exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum.
The groundbreaking new exhibition, titled Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine, explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed, while uncovering the inspiring stories of scientists and innovators around the globe who collaborated to tackle the worldwide COVID-19 challenge along the way.
A groundbreaking new immersive exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is now open at Manchester Museum.
‘Wild’ look at how people are creating, rebuilding, and repairing connections with nature, and how the natural world has traditionally been presented and idealised through Western art, as well as looking at some unique approaches to environmental recovery too.
The exhibition will also crucially look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis by making the world more wild.
50 Years of the Replica Shirt / Credit: National Football Museum | Admiral Sports
A new exhibition telling the story of the football shirt pioneers, Admiral, is now open at the National Football Museum.
50 Years of the Replica Shirt will take visitors right through the Admiral’s history, from their humble beginnings in a Leicestershire textile town, to the official kit manufacturers for the England national team – with key moments in the company’s timeline highlighted through a range of objects, photographs, and kit designs.
Manc visitors will be able to walk through the iconic Jurassic World gates, explore some richly-themed environments, and encounter a life-sized Brachiosaurus, Velociraptors, and the most fearsome dinosaur of all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
You can be in with a chance of winning one of hundreds of free prizes just by heading down to Spinningfields this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, Spinningfields has just launched a brand-new app that’s now available to download, and in a bid to mark the occasion and properly celebrate this exciting launch, the city centre leisure and business district will be hosting an epic ‘Spin to Win’ event where “everyone’s a winner” on Tuesday from 8am.
There’ll be free coffee and free prizes to make the most of, all for just downloading a free app.
One of Greater Manchester’s best-loved outdoor dining concepts has returned for 2024, and there’s a proper tasty lineup of traders.
‘Kargo on the Docks’ – which is MediaCity‘s al fresco dining pop-up, in place of the former Box On The Docks – has had itself a bit of a “glow up” and has taken over the waterfront and gardens with a fresh wave of local food traders and stunning artwork by Salford-based creatives, all as the sun shines down on Salford Quays this summer.
Did you see that Bolton has launched its own ‘Hollywood of the North’ TV and film location tours around the town centre?
Merely months after being named Greater Manchester’s new ‘Town of Culture’, Bolton is already proving why 2024 is its year, as the town is celebrating its shiny new title by celebrating all the times it has been chosen as a filming location for dozens of major film and TV productions over the years.
These new behind-the-scenes tours are led by local historian and professional tour guide, Suzanne Hindle, and will feature all of the town’s famous filming spots.
Bolton Film & TV Tours / Credit: Supplied | BBC
Visitors will get to explore places such as court rooms, cells, and Crescent corridors whilst hearing tales of how the industry adapt these unexpected locations to set the scene.
Known and loved for being one of the best musicals the 21st Century – and one of the funniest of all time – having scooped up dozens of coveted awards both in the US and here in the UK in its time, The Book of Mormon is currently out on tour, and the Elders are set to arrive in our city this week for an extended stay.
The hilarious production will be taking over the iconic Palace Theatre stage from this Wednesday until early October, and there’s still chance to grab yourself some tickets too.
A new science and tech festival for all the family is coming to Cheshire this weekend to help “inspire young minds”.
Set to descend on the grounds of Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park – a unique place where world-leading science, innovation, and stylish living all come together in the Cheshire countryside – SciTech Extravaganza will be a day filled full of fun science-themed shows, interactive activities, new skill-building opportunities, and more.
The brand-new family festival is designed to “spark curiosity” and “encourage engagement” through STEM-related learning.