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A family-friendly festival full of FREE interactive activities is happening in Manchester this summer

'Little HOME' will be here for two fun-filled weekends in the city.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 4th July 2024

A free festival with a lineup packed full of interactive activities, workshops, live music, and more is coming to Manchester this summer.

Happening in the heart of the city centre in a couple of weeks time, just in time for schools to be out for the summer holidays, families across Greater Manchester are invited to head on down to the independent arts venue, HOME, and get stuck into everything from interactive theatre and circus skills workshops, to dance, hands-on crafts, and so much more.

The family-friendly Little HOME festival is set to pop up across two weekends in August – from Friday 2 through to Sunday 4 August, and the following weekend on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 August.

A musical theatre production of the much-loved illustrated book by Nick Sharratt, Shark in the Park, will open the festival on Friday 2 August, with extra performances on the following two days, and tickets now available to book from £15 each on the HOME website.

A variety of free pop-up performances will be taking place in the spaces in and around HOME throughout Little HOME festival, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.

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Festivalgoers can expect to make friends with a pair of fantastical beasts, prepare to be charmed by a postman-themed puppetry production, come face-to-face with Dr Frankenstein at his work table, visit fortune teller Mystic Mog to find out the future, and meet a bunch of other mischievous madcap characters along the way.

A family-friendly festival full of free interactive activities is happening in Manchester this summer / Credit: HOME MCR

Not only will there be some special one-to-one theatrical encounters to experience, but there’ll also be an impressive choice of free creative crafts, workshops, and games to take part in too – which is ideal for those who like doing as well as seeing.

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Especially on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 August, Skylight Circus Arts and their team of performers will not only be drawing gasps of amazement from festivalgoers for their special circus skills, but they’ll also be on hand to help little Mancs and their families master their own juggling, plate-spinning, and diabolo skills too.

And if the festival’s programme wasn’t already packed full of fun enough as it is, you can also expect to let off some steam through a range of interactive dance classes, and unwind by watching family-friendly films like includes Pete’s Dragon, Kung Fu Panda 4, and The Parent Trap inside HOME’s cinema.

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All the activities that form part of Little HOME are free to take part in, and you can find more information ahead of the festival next month here.

Featured Image – HOME MCR

What's On

Influential indie veterans The Wedding Present to embark on 40th anniversary tour

Danny Jones Danny Jones Wedding Present Manchester gig date tickets

Influential indie band The Wedding Present are about to begin a big live tour across the UK for their 40th anniversary, and one stop is right here in Manchester.

As boundary-pushing veterans of the genre for the best part of four decades, The Wedding Present have always been one of the most pioneering auteurs of the Northern music scene, and nothing has changed even after all this time.

The Leeds-formed icons are a favourite not only of ours but even more so among our friends over at The Hoot, and with an artistic legacy as strong as Yorkshire’s, that’s saying something.

David Lewis Gedge’s long-standing project rather quietly announced its major retrospective series of live shows back in June – so quiet, in fact, that we missed it until now – but as they gear up for a handful of very special dates, we’d urge Manc gig-goers to give themselves a Wedding Present.

Gedge and co. will be coming to the O2 Ritz in Manchester for just the second show of merely half a dozen confirmed for The Wedding Present 40th Anniversary Tour, having played the venue many times.

In fact, even after visits featuring live configurations over the years, the current lineup played the Ritz as recently as May 2023; the show was met with strong reviews pretty much across the board, and it seemed to signal somewhat of a falling back in love with the crowds of the North.

For anyone unaware of the self-styled ‘semi-legendary band’ (their PR’s words, not ours), The Wedding Present are probably in similar territory to fellow underdogs and Manc natives, James, when it comes to the amount of music they’ve put out over the years, inspiring generations of those who came after.

You might assume we’d name one of their most famous tracks, ‘George Best’, as our favourite, for rather obvious reasons – but you’d be wrong: it doesn’t get much better than ‘Dreamworld’, if you ask us.

Their rich back catalogue encompasses not only so many different eras but also sounds, styles and various other eccentricities; so much so that their multi-genre-spanning music has even produced its own musical.

But before we dive any deeper down into the rabbit hole, let’s get back on track.

Set to play Manchester on Friday, 10 October, The Wedding Present will be kicking off the tour in Bristol at the start of next month.

There are other dates in the likes of Sheffield, Liverpool, Chester, Holmfirth, Buxton, Newcastle and more, but only a few are officially part of the anniversary tour.

Tickets are live as we speak, so if you fancy going along to see them, you can grab yours HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Karl Kathuria (supplied)

What's On

A unique Manchester attraction is offering FREE entry to anyone who shares its ‘birthday’ month

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

One of Manchester’s most unique attractions is offering free entry for two weeks to celebrate its first birthday.

But there’s a catch… free entry is only granted to people born in one specific month.

Museum of Illusions – which is is one of the largest and fastest-growing private museum chains – is celebrating the first birthday of its debut UK attraction in Manchester this September by giving away free tickets to anyone who shares its birthday month.

Since opening on Market Street in 2024, Museum of Illusions has welcomed more than 200,000 visitors through its doors to experience the dozens of mind-bending illusions and interactive exhibits inside, and has quickly established itself as one of the city’s top attractions in what is a very competitive market.

Manchester’s Museum of Illusions is celebrating its first birthday / Credit: Supplied

Loved by locals and tourists alike, the museum blends fun and education for visitors of all ages, and is fully-accessible too, ensuring everyone can enjoy the fun.

Manchester‘s Museum of Illusions is not only the first in the UK, but it’s also the second-largest in Europe, just behind Copenhagen – so yes, it’s a pretty big deal.

To mark the milestone and celebrate its first anniversary, visitors born in September can enjoy free entry to the museum from Monday 22 September through to Friday 3rd October (excluding weekends).

All they need to do to access this offer is show a valid ID when they arrive.

The museum will also be dressed for the occasion too, adding a birthday touch to its already-captivating mix of optical illusions and immersive exhibits.

“Manchester has truly embraced the Museum of Illusions, and we’re so grateful for all the support we’ve had in our first year,” commented Steve Buchan, who is the General Manager at the Museum of Illusions in Manchester.

The unique attraction is offering free entry to anyone who shares its birthday month / Credit: Supplied

“Welcoming over 200,000 visitors in just 12 months has been incredible. 

“Free tickets to anyone celebrating their birthday in September feels like the perfect way to give something back. It’s our way of saying thank you for the incredible support, and of course, to invite even more people to experience the fun, curiosity, and wonder the museum brings.”

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Is your birthday in September? You can visit the Museum of Illusions in Manchester anytime from Monday 22 September – Friday 3rd October (excluding weekends).

Featured Image – Supplied

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