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There’s loads of FREE events and activities at the Science and Industry Museum this summer

You can explore 'ideas that change the world'

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 14th August 2024

Little Mancs can “explore ideas that change the world” at one of Manchester’s most popular museums this summer.

Keen to keep the kids both entertained and educated at the same time now that schools across Greater Manchester are out for summer?

With a couple of weeks of the school holidays still left to make the most of, and many parents, carers and guardians understandably starting to run out of ideas, the Science and Industry Museum is encouraging locals to head on down and experience the best of its jam-packed events lineup packed full of exciting exhibitions, hands-on activities, and so much more.

And the best part is, the majority of the programme is free to get involved with.

There’s loads of free events and activities happening at the Science and Industry Museum this summer / Credit: Drew Forsyth (via Science Museum Group)

The city centre-based museum is inviting “scientists, innovators, and engineers of the future” to delve deeper into the science behind space, machines, and our bodies, as well as discover some of the museum’s special spaces during its current large-scale repair project. 

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From now right up until 1 September, the museum promises there’ll be something new for you to discover every single day.

A brand-new science show will give visitors a chance to explore the hidden worlds uncovered by incredible engineers, while families can find out what goes on inside an engine, use metal detectors to explore a special sand pit, or examine the marvellous machines that help us look inside our bodies.

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Budding engineers can also get hands-on with special activities inspired by plans and blueprints of collections from the museum’s archive.

Special ‘Hidden Spaces’ tours will take you behind the scenes, while demonstrations of the museum’s historic textile machinery will bring to life Manchester’s industrial past like never before.

Then, in a bid to mark Manchester‘s annual Pride Festival, visitors will be able to join in with some special Pride-themed activities that celebrate lots of different individual stories from 19 to 25 August, which all lead up to the museum taking part in the Manchester Pride parade through the city centre on Saturday 24 August. 

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All of the museum’s free events and exhibitions can be booked online / Credit: Drew Forsyth (via Science Museum Group)

And if course, the school holidays are the perfect time to visit the museum’s two currently-running and massively popular exhibitions, Power Up, and the newest addition, Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine, if you haven’t had the chance to do so already.

All of the museum’s free events and exhibitions can be booked online ahead of time, as well as on the day of your visit too.

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More information can be found on the Science and Industry Museum website here.

Featured Image – Drew Forsyth (via Science Museum Group)

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Rochdale’s incredible fire festival will bring blazing sculptures and fiery displays to town this month

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied

Rochdale will be filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays later this month when the Ignite Fire Festival returns to town. 

The spectacular free event will see the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall – which reopened to the public earlier this year – transformed with fiery displays, blazing sculptures and illuminated installations. 

The smash hit event debuted last year, attracting more than 10,500 people, and this year’s will be even bigger with three nights of magical family entertainment. 

And the festival will culminate on the Sunday with the Rochdale Christmas lights switch-on. 

Ignite Fire Festival comes from Walk the Plank, the outdoor arts specialists behind some of the UK’s biggest and best outdoor arts events, who have called upon artists and pyro technicians to create the many installations on show. 

Between 5pm and 8pm each night, visitors will be able to walk past fire-based sculptures like goblets of fire, a daisy chain of flaming flowers, a fire bird with blazing eyes, and smaller birds circling a flaming nest – to name just a few.

There’ll also be sculptures that twist, flap and erupt with balls of fire, and ‘In The Balance’ will be a festival highlight, where rotating globes of flame seemingly defy the laws of physics. 

Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied

Each evening, a fire drawing designed and made by local residents will be ignited alongside flaming hot performances from some of the UK’s top talent including Flame Oz – a thrilling fire dancing and juggling show. 

There’ll also be performances from Liverpool’s Bring the Fire Project, local favourites Skylight Circus Arts, and street theatre and interactive arts group Travelling Light Circus. 

Visitors should look out for Drum Machine, a 20-strong drumming collective, The Fire Man Dave performing a live fire show with fire eating and juggling, and Astro Aliens, a trio of cosmic beings that will entertain all ages. 

The incredible event, sponsored by car supermarket The Trade Centre UK, is set to take place between Friday 22 and Sunday 24 November. 

Ignite Fire Festival takes place in the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall
Ignite Fire Festival takes place in the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall
There'll be performers as well as pyrotechnic sculptures. Credit; Supplied
There’ll be performers as well as pyrotechnic sculptures. Credit; Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back for a second year. Credit: Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back for a second year. Credit: Supplied

After exploring the gardens, you’ll be able to pick up hot food, mulled wine and other seasonal drinks served each night.

On Sunday, Father Christmas will be in town to switch on the Christmas lights at 5.30pm in front of the town hall.  

Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council said: “Last year’s Ignite Fire Festival and Christmas Light’s Switch On was a fantastic event and an instant hit with audiences from across Greater Manchester. 

“It’s an exciting and unique event and the perfect addition to our big switch-on, providing family entertainment across the weekend.”

Mark Bailey, founder and owner of sponsor Trade Centre UK added: “Our partnership with Ignite Fire Festival and the Rochdale Christmas Lights Switch On is a fantastic opportunity to give back to a community that has welcomed us so warmly. 

“At Trade Centre UK, we believe in more than just selling cars; we believe in being part of the fabric of the local area. Supporting events like this, which bring people together to celebrate in the heart of Rochdale, aligns perfectly with our core values of community and connection.”

The event is free, and no tickets are required. Ignite is organised by Rochdale Borough Council in partnership with Walk the Plank and Culture Co-op, a ‘Creative People and Places’ programme, funded by Arts Council England.  

Find out more and plan your visit to Ignite Fire Festival HERE. 

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Featured image: Supplied

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Science and Industry Museum to transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ as part of 2024 festive events programme

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

One of Manchester’s most popular museums will be transformed into an immersive ‘Light Lab’ for the festive season.

As the temperatures begin to drop and Christmas creeps closer, this is your chance to escape the cold and brighten up the winter holidays with an adventure though light and colour, as the Science and Industry Museum has now unveiled its upcoming festive events programme.

You can also explore a gaming extravaganza, and be engrossed by festive-themed science shows at the city centre-based museum this December.

Back by popular demand, after enchanting visitors of all ages in previous years, the museum’s free Light Lab will be making a return for 2024 – with everyone invited to discover the secrets of light through illuminating activities, special shows, and immersive experiences. 

The Science and Industry Museum will transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ this winter / Credit: Jason Lock (via Science Museum Group)

As Greater Manchester is known for its grey winter days, a series of illuminating experiments will bring colour to your lives in the interactive Light Lab, where you can explore a hall of mirrors, discover how to bend light, and even take a dance break in the rave room, before taking a journey from the Sun back to the Earth during special science shows led by the museum’s team of expert Explainers.

You’ll be able to discover how light travels through our atmosphere, explore the science of solar flares, and even marvel at a mesmerising display of the Northern Lights – with real NASA footage of the Aurora Borealis.

If all that exploring has got you tired out, then you can slow things down in the Recharge Retreat and get comfortable with a picture book, or explore the relationship between colour and mood and why nature is so important to our health.  

You can escape from the cold, and learn a thing or two while you’re at it / Credit: Science Museum Group

But if you’re looking for a change of pace, you can also enjoy the museum‘s ultimate gaming experience, Power Up, to immerse yourself in a whole host of different digital worlds by working your way through five decades of video games, or learn about how what we eat can have a huge effect on our brains and bodies at the Operation Ouch! exhibition.

Then, for something a little different all together this festive season, you can grab a ticket for the first of the 2024 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures being screened live at the museum on Tuesday 10 December, ahead of the broadcast on the BBC. 

The Winter Holiday Programme at the Science and Industry Museum runs from 14 December 2024 through to 5 January 2025.

Read more:

Find out more about everything happening on the museum’s website here.

Featured Image – Science Museum Group

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