Today is World Bee Day – and one of Manchester’s top entertainment venues has unveiled a lineup of “buzzing summer” events to celebrate.
Printworks is dedicating the month of June to the 100,000 honey bees that live on its rooftop.
As well as announcing the packed lineup of events on the annual UN-designated World Bee Day – which is all about raising awareness of the importance of bees, the threats they face, and their contribution to sustainable development – Printworks is also launching new pollination stations around the venue especially for the rooftop bees to enjoy.
The venue will be getting itself a fresh new look, with planters of flowers for pollination stations, three honeycomb-inspired sculptures installed outside for Mancs to take pictures with, and four wildlife-friendly planters.
On top of all the fresh flowers ready for the 2022 Manchester Flower Show, these seven installations offer a little bit more than just some colourful content an Instagram feed.
Throughout June, anyone who uploads their photo with the honeycomb planters to Facebook and Instagram tagging Printworks will be in with a chance of winning a bee-keeping experience, as well as a meal at one of Printworks’ venues.
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Printworks has unveiled a lineup of “buzzing summer” events for next month / Credit: Supplied
What’s more, is that each planter contains a QR code, which can be scanned to adopt a Manchester Bee for just £2 – with 100% of the donation going to local charity, Forever Manchester.
Forever Manchester and Printworks work closely together to look after the bees that live on the Printworks roof.
Then, from 1-7 June, fans of a tipple can also take part in a cocktail trail for The Manchester Flower Show, as selected venues inside the Printworks have put their own “sting” on The Buzz cocktail – which will be decorated with unique floral garnishes and bee-themed toppers, and again, a portion of the cost donated to Forever Manchester.
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Head to Frankie & Benny’s, Treetop Adventure Golf, Floripa, Hard Rock Café, Bierkeller or Cargo to check them out.
Forever Manchester and Printworks work closely together to look after the bees that live on the Printworks roof / Credit: Forever Manchester
“The worker bee embodies Manchester and its people,” said Jason Shay – Centre Director at Printworks.
“We’re excited to give a little love back to our bees and our people to offer this incredible experience, while also helping our local community through our partnership with Forever Manchester [and] we’re looking forward to all the competition entries and putting the cocktails to the taste test.
“There’ll be plenty of fun for everyone with the bees being the buzz for families and our cocktail trail offering something exciting for our visitors.”
Featured Image – Printworks
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Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery are to be explored during a major new exhibition coming soon to the city.
The Science and Industry Museum, in the heart of our city centre, is already known and loved for telling the story of the ideas and innovations that transformed Manchester into the world’s first industrial city.
But now, a new free exhibition is set to “enhance public understanding” of how transatlantic slavery actually shaped the city’s growth.
Produced by the Science and Industry Museum, in partnership with The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, and developed with African descendent and diaspora communities through local and global collaborations, this landmark project will put Manchester’s historic connections to enslavement at the heart of a major exhibition at the museum for the first time.
Featuring new research, it will also explore how the legacies of these histories continue to impact Manchester, the world, and lives today.
Set to open in early 2027, the exhibition will run for a year in the museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery.
Alongside that hub at the Science and Industry Museum itself, the project is also set to have a collaborative city-wide events programme, and a lasting legacy – with a new permanent schools programme, and permanent displays in the future too.
As mentioned, the new exhibition is part of The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, which is a 10-year restorative justice project launched in 2023.
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition / Credit: Science Museum Group Collection
Through partnerships and community programmes, the project aims to improve public understanding of the impact of transatlantic slavery on the UK’s economic development, and its ongoing legacies for Black communities – with a strong focus on Manchester, the city in which The Guardian was founded back in 1821.
The museum’s existing gallery content and ongoing work around sharing the inextricable links between Manchester’s growth into an industrial powerhouse and a textile industry reliant on colonialism and enslavement will be developed through the project.
Through a “collaborative re-examination of the past”, the exhibition will also share a more inclusive history of a city that prides itself on being at the forefront of ideas that change the world.
It’s opening at the Science and Industry Museum in early 2027 / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
Speaking ahead of the exhibition’s arrival in early 2027, Sally MacDonald, who is the Director of the Science and Industry Museum, says: “This will be an exhibition about important aspects of our past that are profoundly relevant to the world we live in today.
“Revealed from the perspectives of those who experienced enslavement and whose lives have been shaped by its legacies, we will foreground stories of resistance, agency, and skill.
“The exhibition will explore themes of resilience, identity and creativity alongside exploitation and inequality, and will feature a specific focus on the ways that scientific and technological developments both drove and were driven by transatlantic slavery.”
Further details on the project will be announced in due course, so stay tuned.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group
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Charlotte Dawson will be handing out compliments and big prizes in Manchester to brighten Blue Monday
Daisy Jackson
TV star Charlotte Dawson will be cheering up Blue Monday in Manchester, dishing out compliments to strangers and awarding some big prizes too.
The actress, who is the daughter of the legendary late Les Dawson, will be bringing her signature sunny energy to Printworks on Monday 20 January.
Otherwise known as Blue Monday, it’s believed that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year – so she’s here to nip that in the bud.
Between 1pm and 3pm on the huge gaming screen inside Printworks – part of its £21m transformation that included adding a huge digital ceiling – Charlotte Dawson will be spreading joy and laughter.
She’ll be live streaming straight to passers-by, spreading smiles and dishing out compliments.
Charlotte will also be treating visitors to some amazing prizes from Printworks’ collection of bars, restaurants and leisure venues.
These prizes will include free brunch for four at Walkabout, gaming sessions at Bierkeller, or family cinema tickets with Ice Blasts at VUE. Other prizes include Nando’s vouchers, a drink and activity for two at the new Trax Social, and much more.
And the top prize will be a luxury overnight stay for two at Hotel Indigo, just across the road in the very heart of Manchester.
Charlotte Dawson will take part in Blue Monday at Printworks, Manchester
There’ll even be free coffee vouchers for Todd St Cafe on offer to brighten your Blue Monday.
Kristian Brennan, Marketing Manager at Printworks, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Charlotte at Printworks this Blue Monday.
“As a true Mancunian icon, her vibrant personality is exactly what we need to brighten up the most depressing day of the year and we know she’ll bring plenty of laughs and smiles to everyone who stops by.
“What makes this event truly unique is the opportunity for the public to chat with Charlotte under Europe’s largest digital ceiling, which will showcase new mood-boosting content.
“It’s an innovative and exciting way for people to connect, and we can’t wait to see families and friends come together to create joyful memories in this truly unique setting!”
Emily Sergeant -
20th May 2022 
