Curious Mancs can explore brand-new science displays, immersive exhibitions, decades of gaming, and more this May half term and beyond.
With only a week to go now until schools right across Greater Manchester and the North West are out, the Science and Industry Museum in the heart of Manchester city centre is gearing up to host a half term “packed full of digital discovery”, as well as unveil a hotly-anticipated new display dedicated to the remarkable life of one of the most important theoretical physicists of all time.
Not only that, but one of its most successful world-first exhibitions has also been extended until the end of the month so more visitors can catch it before it closes, and there’ll also be the chance to explore the world of gaming and discover groundbreaking ideas that “change the world”.
No matter whether you’re after an engaging day out with the family, an afternoon spent immersed in science, a look forward to the future of tech, or a journey back though Manchester’s industrial past, the Science and Industry Museum has got you covered.
Here’s everything you can get involved in over the next few weeks.
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Stephen Hawking at Work
Thursday 25 May – onwards
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Stpehen Hawking at Work / Credit: Science Museum Group
Visitors will able to get up close to rare personal items of Stephen Hawking’s in the Science and Industry’s newest display opening next week.
Stephen Hawking at Work explores the remarkable life of a world-renowned scientist, who passed away in 2018 – with significant objects from his office giving an insight into his life as a scientist, science communicator, and as a person who lived with motor neurone disease.
Highlights include a rare copy of his PhD thesis, and a wager he made with his peers about whether things that fall into a black hole are lost forever, while there’s also a ‘time traveller’ party invitation that he sent to his peers after the party had taken place, to prove that time travel to the past is impossible.
Turn It Up: The power of music / Credit: Science Museum Group
This month is your last chance to join the over 30,000 visitors who have already been able to discover more about “the science of music’s mysterious hold over us”, and how it drives us to create, perform, feel and share.
Officially closing on Monday 29 May, you can experiment with beats, melodies, and harmonies in the exhibition’s Musical Playground, uncover how music influences our mood, shopping habits, and even the taste of food, or explore first-hand accounts from people pushing the boundaries of musical innovation.
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Turn It Up: The power of music is packed full of opportunities for visitors of all ages and interests to explore their inner music maker and determine what music means to them.
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Power UP
Open every weekend & school holiday
Power UP / Credit: Science Museum Group
If you haven’t had the chance to catch the “ultimate gaming experience” that is Power UP yet, then this May half term is the ideal time.
Open every weekend, and seven days a week throughout the school holidays, Power UP caters for gamers of all ages and skill level, and welcomes players to revel in the very-best video games from the past five decades, while getting hands-on with over 160 consoles.
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You’ll get to experience cutting edge technology and the latest developments in virtual reality, as well as rediscover childhood favourites played on classic consoles.
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Other special activities for May half term
Saturday 27 May – Sunday 4 June
May half herm at the Science and Industry Museum / Credit: Science Museum Group
Especially for May half term, the Science and Industry Museum is hosting a programme of family fun themed around robotics, digital discovery, and tech, so visitors can meet and interact with real-life robots, practise programming to influence their movements and actions, and imagine what having a robot best friend might look like.
The team of expert Explainers will be on hand to help visitors “conquer digital coding”, while also helping you explore some of the museum’s historic objects and stories like the working replica of the Manchester Baby, and the 19th century invention that is the Jacquard Loom.
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There’ll even be a series of flying drone displays taking place inside the museum too.
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Featured Image – Science Museum Group
Art & Culture
A groundbreaking new multi-use entertainment and leisure venue is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A new multi-purpose food, drink, entertainment and leisure destination is coming to Manchester city centre and the Salford border this autumn, and you won’t find many places that roll so much into one spot.
Mancs, get ready to welcome ‘Tangerine’.
Conceived by an impressive collective of local creatives, indies and those with plenty of experience catering to the Northern masses, Tangerine is promising everything from multiple resident kitchens, a live music hall, an arthouse stage, a specialist martini bar and more.
Better yet, after a year in the making and quietly chipping away at the striking space, it opens later this month, so you don’t have to wait long to try it for yourselves.
Located on New Bailey Street, just on the edge of Spinningfields and Salford Central, this groundbreaking new venue features two main platforms (utilising the integrated charm of the historic railway arches), each boasting its own selection of attractions.
While platform one will offer a bakery, coffee roastery, wine store and bottle ship, the ‘Canteen Club’ and even a florist, number two will contain the music hall, arthouse stage and the stylish ‘Grand Departures’ bar – serving seven espresso martini alone – Tangerine will deliver a seamless day to night transition.
Arguably, however, the centrepiece is the ‘Cantina Collective’. The food and drink hall promises seven in-house kitchens, showcasing a variety of cuisines.
The opening line-up already confirmed includes Vanda: a family-run Parisian-inspired Ukrainian bakery; Mexican taqueria, PANTERA, burger joint Juicy, as well as Yo Dutchie (a unique fusion of Dutch-Japanese food) and a new Korean/ramen concept from local sushi favourites, Unagi.
Our stomachs are already grumbling just thinking about it.
CGI renders of the completed space. (Credit: Supplied)
Designed not only by the brains behind Northern Quarter’s beloved Mala hidden garden but WANT STUDIOS, who will be ensuring local artists, independents, and traders will be regularly spotlighted, the site will boast a capacity of well over 300 people.
Artyom Dmitrijev, owner of Tangerine and Mala, said in a statement: “Over a year in the making, we’ve used all our experience in design, interiors, architecture and hospitality to create our dream project. A place for all the independents to come together and thrive.”
Andy Windsor, Director of WANT STUDIOS, added: “Tangerine unites the city’s independent kitchens, bar tenders, bakeries and entertainment specialists. It is a unique showcase of what we do in the city. This is a new space for creativity, food, and culture, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
Debuting to the public with a big Halloween weekender on the evening of Friday, 31 October, with another launch event the following Saturday, you can sign up for exclusive early access for free, which could see you score a few freebies to boot.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Tangerine MCR (via Instagram)
Art & Culture
First vendors confirmed Glossop Market Hall, including two indie Manc traders
Danny Jones
The first vendors for the upcoming Glossop Market Hall have been announced, and the lineup includes two beloved Greater Manchester independent businesses.
Better still, the third is another noteworthy name from the North West.
Glossop Market Hall is scheduled to launch later this year, setting up shop in the historic town hall complex, where the High Peak Borough Council, a retail shopping arcade and various other municipal buildings have stood in various different iterations for nearly well over a century.
With the Derbyshire town set to celebrate the opening of the newly revamped market hall, those behind the new Glossop attraction have now revealed the first three names set to take up residence there.
As you can see, the biggest names already signed on to cook from one of the six kitchens is a Manchester favourite food hall in its own right: Hello Oriental.
The Pan-Asian paradise not only has a subterranean space below Circle Square, but also at The Trafford Centre, as well as a dessert spin-off in Freight Island.
Indie trader number two comes in the form of B&V Trading, who are based at Stanley Square in Sale and specialise in eco-friendly, UK-made treats, toys and essentials for four-legged friends.
After proving a hit with the locals, their small stall at nearby Altrincham Market has grown to see them open up not just a second site in the leafy Cheshire suburbs of Knutsford back in 2022, but now boast a third location in neighbouring Macclesfield.
Speaking of Macc, local gin and whisky makers, Forest Distillery – based up at the famous Cat and Fiddle Inn pub towards the Peaks – they round out the first wave of regional businesses set to pop up in Glossop Market Hall (GMH) when it finally arrives this winter.
And once again, as the update on social media reads: “This is just the beginning”.
Natives, day-trippers and tourists from all over are bound to visit this place when it opens sometime in November (exact date still TBC), and with space not only for a dedicated bar, dining space and a coffee shop, but a total of 17 retail spaces, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
GMH becomes just the latest among a growing trend of food and drink halls popping up all over our part of the country, with virtually every Greater Manchester borough now boasting at least one of their own – or, in the city centre’s case, what feels like a dozen now.
Exhibit number… not sure, we’ve lost track at this point.
Emily Sergeant -
19th May 2023 
