A brand new nightlife venue is opening in Manchester’s iconic Printworks this year, offering music quizzes, live music, karaoke, and food and drink.
Spider Box Manchester promises to be beyond your everyday live music venue, and will be home to the UK’s first digital human DJ, Dex.
The newest edition to the city centre’s legendary entertainment complex has something for your mind, body and soul.
If you think your music knowledge can compete with Popmaster’s Ken Bruce or you have a voice that would put Mariah Carey to shame, then Spider Box Manchester is the place for you.
The venue will be bringing a revolutionary new form of music quizzing – players will have the chance to take part in their own music quiz panel show in Spider Box’s unique tech-centric booths.
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Everything is ‘All About You’, as the 2003 McFly classic says, with customisable rounds which are updated regularly with new challenges and games to suit seasonal moments and trends.
Think you can ‘Dance The Night’ like Dua Lipa at Glastonbury or put on a ‘Supersonic’ show as iconic as Oasis in Knebworth? Spider Box has bookable karaoke booths where you can not only sing along but also create an atmosphere with changeable backdrops including music videos and headline slots at music festivals.
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After all that singing and dancing you’re sure to be ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’, much like the 1982 Duran Duran hit, and with an incredible food and drink offering, Spider Box really does have all the boxes ticked.
Players can take on music quizzes inside special booths at Spider Box Manchester
The menu at Spider Box Manchester will feature Middle Eastern classics and Southeast Asian dishes, there’s sure to be something for all palates.
The hangout also features a dedicated space for fans of all interests with a state of the art racing suite where you can emulate the career of legendary driver Lewis Hamilton. The simulated technology provides a first-person virtual POV to the best tracks and circuits in the world placing you in the driver’s seat of some of the fastest cars.
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Rob Hetherington, CEO of Spider Entertainment said: “We are thrilled to be bringing Spider Box Manchester to Printworks this September.
Artist impressions of how Spider Box will look in Manchester
“We have considered multiple locations across the UK for our first Spider Box venue, and we are delighted to be opening the first in Manchester, a city rich with music, culture and entertainment.
“We believe we have an immersive entertainment offering like no other and guests can expect an unforgettable day or night with each visit. We will have even more information to come over the next few months so watch this space.”
Dan Davies, Printworks’ Centre Manager, said, “This year marks a transformative period for us as we significantly expand our entertainment offerings following a £21 million refurbishment.
“Spider Entertainment, with its unique concept, will provide our customers with exceptional entertainment for all ages. Additionally, it will offer fantastic food and drink that will stand out in Manchester’s vibrant culinary scene.”
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You can sign up here for updates on Spider Box in Manchester, and follow them on Instagram here too.
You can also get a proper glimpse inside with this video.
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!”
Thomas Melia -
16th July 2024 
