Manchester City Council says plans for a new attraction in Manchester Town Hall that tells the story of the iconic building and showcases some of its unique treasures and artefacts have taken a big step forward.
And it means visitors can explore hidden spaces on a new tour once it reopens.
In case you’re not up to speed, Manchester Town Hall, which officially opened all the way back in 1877, has been closed since 2018 while the ‘Our Town Hall’ project – one of the biggest heritage schemes the UK has ever seen – is carried out, and the Grade I-listed building is currently being repaired and restored to “safeguard it for future generations”.
As well as this, the building is also being sympathetically-upgraded to modern safety and access standards before it’s set to reopen to the public in 2024.
An important part of the huge restoration project involves ensuring that the Town Hall’s story is told in “an immersive and interactive way”, according to the Council, and this including telling the tales of the people who have played a part in its long history and the treasure trove of objects they have left behind.
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A new exhibition will let visitors explore Manchester Town Hall’s fascinating history when it reopens in 2024 / Credit: Mather & Co
Which is why the Council has appointed Wilmslow-based exhibition designers Mather & Co to create a new ‘visitor experience’ to welcome people back to the once the Town Hall finally reopens.
The 328 sq m ground-floor exhibition space will be free to use with no admission charges.
If all of that wasn’t brilliant enough as it is, there will also be a chance to go on brand-new guided tours to explore some of the town hall’s hidden spaces rarely, if ever, been open to the public before – such as the Victorian police cells, courtyard area, and clock tower.
A new exhibition will let visitors to Manchester Town Hall explore its fascinating history and civic treasures when it reopens in 2024.
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) June 21, 2022
“This new attraction will open up this beloved building as a destination,” said Cllr Luthfur Rahman, lead member for the Our Town Hall project.
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“It will give visitors the chance to explore its fascinating heritage, see more of its collections, and learn the fascinating and sometimes surprising stories behind them. It will be a welcome addition to Manchester’s varied cultural scene and we look forward to sharing more details of what people can see when Manchester Town Hall reopens in 2024.”
Sarah Clarke – Managing Director at Mather & Co – added: “We want visitors of all ages to experience the story of the Town Hall using their senses, through discovery, experimentation, hidden reveals, exploration, and play.
“We don’t want this experience to be a museum, we want to create a memorable experience with personality.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Fontaines D.C. announce massive return to Manchester on new European tour
Daisy Jackson
Fontaines D.C. have just announced their biggest headline tour to date, including a massive arena gig here in Manchester.
The wildly popular Irish rock band are set to play a whopping 20 arena shows across Europe and the UK this autumn.
The tour has been announced in celebration of their upcoming fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, which is set for release this October.
Fontaines D.C. will hit the road just five days after the album drops, kicking off their European tour in Lisbon on 21 October.
Then they’ll make their way over to the UK, with shows in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Fans in their home country of Ireland are told to stay tuned for live news very soon.
As we speak, Fontaines D.C. are warming up to play one of the country’s biggest festivals, with headline slots at Reading & Leeds Festival.
They’ve already released Marianne, the first single from their new album, and frontman Grian Chatten says of the album: “The album itself is a dopamine chamber. You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
The new record has been recorded between London, the English countryside, and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
He said: “There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity.”
Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday 3 September, with pre-sale live from 10am on Tuesday 1 September.
You can access tickets for Fontaines D.C. in Manchester HERE.
Fans who pre-order Dopamine Chamber from the official store by 6pm on Monday 31 August will gain access to the UK pre-sale.
Fontaines D.C. UK tour dates in full
Friday 20 November – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Saturday 21 November – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Sunday 22 November – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Tuesday 24 November – Leeds, UK – First Direct Bank Arena
Wednesday 25 November – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Emily Sergeant -
21st June 2022 
