Venues welcome back Manchester with major reopening campaign
The roadmap is proceeding and culture venues right across the city are reopening. #HereForCulture is urging people to rediscover these places after 200 days shutdown.
Arts organisations from across Manchester have joined forces for a major campaign to encourage people to rediscover the city’s culture after almost 200 days of venue closures.
From May 17, more COVID-19 restrictions are being relaxed in England – enabling bars, restaurants, theatres, libraries and cinemas to welcome back guests indoors.
To celebrate the momentous step, local venues have launched a #HereForCulture campaign supported by the UK Government’s Culture Recovery Fund – portraying culture as the beating heart of Manchester; inspiring confidence that venues are safe; and reminding people that a cultural experience can have a transformative effect.
A major poster, radio and digital campaign goes live today – with designs by Manchester’s Instruct Studio featuring emotive imagery and uplifting poetry to highlight the range of cultural experiences on offer in the city.
Chehtam’s School of Music Architecture is among the venues reopening to the public
#HereForCulture will run throughout the summer and into autumn, with multiple arts organisations involved including Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Chetham’s Library, Contact, GM Independent Artist Initiative, HOME, Hope Mill Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Camerata, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Libraries, Manchester Museum, Music Venues Trust, National Football Museum, Palace and Opera House Theatres, People’s History Museum, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Exchange Theatre, Science and Industry Museum, The Stoller Hall, The Whitworth and Z-arts.
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The campaign is supported by Arts Council England, Creative Tourist, Oxford Road Corridor, Manchester City Council, NHS and Network Rail.
The Royal Exchange will welcome back customers after a long period of closure
Dave Moutrey, Director of Culture at Manchester City Council, said: “It’s been a long road to get here, but from today cultural venues across Manchester begin to reopen and they couldn’t be more ready or more excited to welcome back audiences. This new joint campaign is backed by some wonderful organisations and its message is very clear: come visit our venues and embrace what’s on offer.
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“Whether you want to keep the kids busy throughout the holidays, have a shared night out with friends, or just enjoy a day of solo reflection; immersion in culture has been proven to help improve mental health and our arts venues and organisations are returning a brilliant selection of shows, exhibitions and events, with something for everyone.”
Sheona Southern, Managing Director at Marketing Manchester, said: “Last month when we moved to Step Two of the Government’s roadmap, it was a big moment for operators in our retail and hospitality sectors who were given a chance to reopen and welcome people back safely; however, that same opportunity was held back for museums, galleries and theatres, meaning many venues have gone over 200 days without audiences.
“That changes today and it’s fantastic to see so many venues working together to celebrate the value of cultural experiences in Manchester. It’s a fun and inspiring campaign and we’re proud to be hosting some amazing content on visitmanchester.com and promoting our strong cultural offer.”
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More information is available about the campaign online.
Featured Image: #HereForCulture
Art & Culture
Manchester reveals FREE programme of events to mark International Women’s Day 2026
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is set to mark International Women’s Day this weekend with a packed programme of free events.
In case you didn’t know, this Sunday (8 March) is International Women’s Day, with cities worldwide will be marking the important day in a series of different ways – and Manchester is no different.
Just as it chose to last year, the city has once again decided not to host its popular and once-annual ‘Walk For Women’ event, that used to see hundreds parade through the city centre in the name of equality, and instead organise a programme of events that both honour the importance of the event globally and this year’s theme.
Each year, International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, whilst also marking a call-to-action for accelerating gender equality.
Join us on Saturday 7 March at Central Library to celebrate International Women’s Day. 💜
Expect storytelling, performances, creative workshops, women’s history exhibitions, a keynote speech and more.
This year in Manchester, Manchester City Council is encouraging everyone to join for a community celebration co‑designed by local women, offering a space to appreciate women’s contributions, meet new people committed to lifting each other up, learn something new, get creative, and ultimately, find inspiration for the future.
Some of the events organised throughout the day – which will all take place at Manchester Central Library the day before IWD 2026 on Saturday 7 March – include a storytelling activity for women to share their personal stories, a special spoken word piece performed by a member of the IWD Co-design group, choirs and poetry performances, and even fireside ‘chats’ among other things.
There’ll also be a range of different events designed especially for mums and children, like the ‘Mums Matter’ wellbeing workshops, offering time to focus on your emotional wellbeing and mental health, and children’s drop-in sessions.
Manchester Central Library is hosting a wide range of IWD 2026 events this weekend / Credit: The Manc Group
You can also expect a selection of stalls by commissioned services and partner organisations promoting different services, and a period product donation point to tackle period poverty across Greater Manchester.
Everybody is invited to celebrate International Women’s Day in Manchester, not just women, and even children are able to attend some of the events too, as people of all ages are welcome.
Manchester’s International Women’s Day 2026 celebrations are taking place throughout the day on Saturday 7 March, and you can find out more and book here.
Featured Image – Marko Milivojevic (via Pixnio)
Art & Culture
Grammy-winning hardcore band Turnstile perform ‘exceptional’ cover of a Stone Roses classic
Danny Jones
In a cover version we never knew we needed, multiple Grammy award-winning hardcore band Turnstile have taken social media timelines by storm with a cover of a true British rock classic by The Stone Roses.
Described as everything from “pretty damn brilliant” and “exceptional” by CLASH Magazine to “one of the best triplej covers ever”, it’s fair to say they smashed it with this one.
This one was always likely to go down well with us Mancs, but you never know how possessive people are going to be with iconic tunes treasured not just by regions but entire eras like this.
Without further ado, please enjoy Turnstile’s cover of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ by The Stone Roses:
Lost track of how many times we’ve watched this now.
Truly excellent.
Not only did they manage to capture the ambient atmosphere of that legendary intro, but they managed to tow the thin paint-splattered line between simply trying to imitate the original and making it their own.
There’s something about frontman Brendan Yates’ vocals that suits this particular cover so very well right from the off.
We’re, of course, not saying that he sounds like Ian Brown in any way, but his range and top notes, in particular, seemed to fit almost perfectly.
Pair that with a contemporary rock band helping rejuvenate their particular guitar-driven genre, and those raw, driving D-beat-centric drums, and you’ve got a winning combo.
As you can see, the majority of the internet seems to agree with us…
.@TURNSTILEHC step into the @triplej studio to recover their take on The Stone Roses' debut album opener 'I Wanna Be Adored'.
The bulk of social media didn’t just hail the reimagining as one that did Brown, John Squire, Reni and the late, great Mani justice, but perhaps one of the greatest that the popular Australian radio station, YouTube channel and Spotify playlisters have seen in a long time.
In fact, in Audio North‘s humble opinion, we’d go so far as to say this is the best we’ve heard in the platform since their native Royel Otis’ delightful duo of The Cranberries and Sophie Ellis-Bextor covers.
Safe to say it’s been an incredible year for Turnstile, who mopped up all manner of accolades in 2025 and were even nominated for International Group at the BRITs here in Manchester this past weekend. They might not have won that one, but they get all the plaudits from us for their song selection alone.
What did you make of it? Better still, do you have a favourite triplej ‘Like a Version’? Actually, no – scrap that: is there a better cover of a Manc artist‘s track that you can think of?
The Manc -
17th May 2021 
