What's On

The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 15 – 21 September 2025

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 12th September 2025

September, you’ve been treating us well so far.

Now that September is really in full swing, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that autumn is nearly here – but even though summer may be coming to an end, there’s still plenty of exciting activities to be getting up to in Greater Manchester in the coming weeks.

Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? No worries. We’ve chosen a few of the highlights for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide.

Both free things and those that’ll set you back a few pennies are featured.

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DARKFIELD

Greater Manchester

Monday 15 – Sunday 21 December

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DARKFIELD / Credit: Floro Azqueta | Mihaela Bodlovic

A pioneering production company is bringing immersive theatre inside shipping containers to Greater Manchester this week.

DARKFIELD has announced their first shows in Greater Manchester for seven years, and will present their three most critically-acclaimed experiences at iconic venues across the region as part of an ‘exciting’ collaboration.

Keen audiences will be able to head to The Lowry, Aviva Studios, and HOME this month to see theatre like they’ve never seen it before.

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Find out more and get tickets to the shows here.

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Heritage Open Days 2025

Greater Manchester

Monday 15 – Sunday 21 September

Heritage Open Days 2025 / Credit: Paul Harris

The UK’s largest festival of history and culture has returned, and there’s thousands of free events on the lineup this week.

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Always proving to be a smash-hit success, both here in Greater Manchester and nationwide, over the last 30 years, the National Trust’s Heritage Open Days are back by popular demand for the next couple of weeks, and this means loads of the UK’s top attractions will be open to visit for free.

You can explore historic houses, factories, museums, music halls, and countless of other places and spaces – some that are normally closed to the public.

Find out more here.

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Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You

Science and Industry Museum

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Monday 15 September – onwards

Operation Ouch!
Operation Ouch!
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You / Credit: Science Museum Group

You can plunge headfirst into the incredible world of our senses at a new immersive museum exhibition that’s now arrived at the Science and Industry Museum.

Back by popular demand after a successful run over these past two years, but with a fresh new adventure lined up for 2025, Operation Ouch! is giving you the chance to journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.

Tickets to Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You are now on sale, and visitors are being told to prepare themselves for an “epic exploration of the senses”.

Find out more here.

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Kargo on the Docks

MediaCityUK

Tuesday 16 September – onwards

Kargo on the Docks / Credit: Supplied | Mark Waugh

Summer is nearly over, but Kargo on the Docks is clinging on.

MediaCity’s al fresco dining pop-up has taken over the waterfront and gardens once again with a fresh wave of local food traders and stunning artwork by Salford-based creatives, all as the sun shines down on Salford Quays this summer.

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A handful of Greater Manchester’s most popular independents have set themselves up Quayside inside those signature re-imagined shipping containers.

Foodies can expect a menu packed with bold new flavours including Caribbean, Lebanese, Mexican, Ethiopian, and Pan-Asian dishes.

Find out more here.

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NEW OPENING – Mappin & Webb

St Ann’s Square

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This is a stop-you-in-your-tracks addition to the city.

Mappin & Webb has opened the doors to its exclusive new store right in the heart of Manchester, and it’s two floors of jewellery paradise

The company has meticulously-restored this landmark pink building on St Ann’s Square and filled it with all things heritage and sparkly, with a luxury bar and lounge downstairs.

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NEW OPENING – Primark Home

Trafford Palazzo

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Seasonal items like pumpkins are rife
NEW OPENING – Primark Home / Credit: The Manc Group

Home sweet (Primark) home.

New openings don’t get much bigger than this, both metaphorically and literally, as Great Britain’s first-ever dedicated Primark Home store has now opened its doors over at Trafford Palazzo, and it’s an absolute interior-lover’s paradise in there.

The huge new store is packed full of homewares and lifestyle items at Primark’s typical affordable price point so expect bathroom bits, kitchenware, soft furnishings, bedroom decor, and right now, LOADS of pumpkins.

Read more about the exciting new store here.

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Looking for a bite to eat in Manchester this month? We’ve got a few suggestions to share…

Ooh we were eating good in August.

Even with the last of the warmer weather throughout August, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been having some right feasts – with plenty of cheese pulls, saucy drizzles, and for some reason, ANOTHER Labubu-themed dessert.

With the festive season soon approaching, we’re expecting the next month to get extra cosy and indulgent. 

If you need some inspiration for where to eat in our region this month, we rounded up some of our best suggestions for you to pick from:

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NEW OPENING – Slow Jams Bottomless Brunch

The Blues Kitchen

Everyone knows that brunch is better when the booze is bottomless, and there’s bangers blasting in the background, so if you’re on the hunt for a bottomless brunch that will truly get your night out started, Manchester’s The Blues Kitchen is the place to head to.

Endless mimosas, rum punch, and prosecco, banging brunch dishes like their legendary Buffalo wings and popcorn shrimp, and DJs spinning 90s and noughties tunes throughout.

The vibes of a Slow Jams Bottomless Brunch are truly unmatched. 

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Manchester Wing Fest 2025

Victoria Baths

Friday 19 – Sunday 21 September

Manchester Wing Fest 2025 / Credit: Supplied | The Manc Group

The ultimate chicken wing showdown is back. 

Wing Fest, the world’s largest chicken wing festival, will return to Manchester this weekend, taking over the city’s historic Victoria Baths and promising to be the ‘biggest and boldest’ event yet – with over 100,000 drums and flats served across the weekend.

As always, the festival will champion independent food traders, showcasing their skills as they compete for the coveted titles of Best Buffalo Wing, Best Wild Wing, and Best BBQ Wing.

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Manchester Wing Fest will run across four sessions – Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and a Sunday afternoon finale, and tickets are now on sale here.

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SciTech Extravaganza 2025

Alderley Park

Saturday 20 September

SciTech Extravaganza 2025 / Credit: Supplied

SciTech Extravaganza is back for 2025 this weekend.

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Set to descend on the grounds of Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park – a unique place where world-leading science, innovation, and stylish living all come together in the Cheshire countryside – SciTech Extravaganza will be a day filled full of fun science-themed shows, interactive activities, new skill-building opportunities, and more.

The popular family festival is designed to ‘spark curiosity’ and ‘encourage engagement’ through STEM-related learning.

Last-minute tickets are on sale now at just £8.50 each, and you can get them here.

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Featured Image – Paul Harris | The Manc Group | Science Museum Group

What's On

You can pick your own fresh fruit from the fields of a family-run farm near Manchester this summer

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Strawberry picking at Kenyon Hall Farm

Just over the border into Warrington, you’ll find the perfect place to pick your own fresh fruit this summer.

We’re talking miles and miles (and miles) of strawberries.

This is Kenyon Hall Farm – a farm in Croft that has been worked by the same family since around 1500, and although it was originally considered a ‘mixed farm’, it has gone from strength to strength over the years, transforming from a traditional agricultural property into one of the UK’s top award-winning farm shops and tourism destinations.

Current owners Tod and Barbara took over the farm in 1978, and the couple, alongside their two sons James and Simon, as well as their partners and dozens of other full-time and seasonal staff, have turned it into a place that families travel from far and wide to visit.

Popular for its ever-expanding pumpkin patch experience in the autumn, its Easter egg hunts in the spring, and its on-site cafe and farm shop, Kenyon Hall Farm is no longer the ‘sleepy’ arable farm that Tod and Barbara once inherited, it’s now a cultural gem in the Croft community that exceeds 500-acres.

It’s pick-your-own strawberry season at Kenyon Hall Farm / Credit: The Manc Group

But there’s one stunning ‘season’ at Kenyon Hall Farm that we just have to shout about… and that’s strawberry season.

Or, should we say, pick-your-own fresh fruit season instead, as not only are there miles and miles of strawberry fields to roam free in – which open from the start of summer in June – but as the season goes on, there’s also raspberries, blackcurrants, potatoes, onions, and loads more to choose from too.

Strawberries have been growing at Kenyon Hall Farm for nearly 50 years now, and used to be its main attraction, often being inundated with locals when it opened for just six-weeks a year – but then, back 2019, they decided to introduce special strawberry growing tunnels, meaning they could extend opening times until the end of August, all while making the experience less weather-dependent.

When 2020 rolled around and the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ticketing was introduced in order to keep everyone safe and help staff manage visitor demand once the fruit fields reopened.

But as this proved to work so well, it’s a system that has remained in place ever since.

This means that, especially for strawberry picking, you need to head online and book your ticket in advance, as staff really don’t want anyone to leave disappointed if they have to turn people away.

There’s so much seasonal produce in the on-site cafe and farm shop too / Credit: The Manc Group

And once you’re done frolicking in the fruit fields, you can then head into the cafe afterwards to try some seasonal specials like cream teas with homemade strawberry jam, or french toast with strawberry compote and Biscoff crumb, all washed down with strawberry matchas made with homemade syrup.

Make sure to pop into the farm shop before you leave too and stock up on all the seasonal produce and gifts you could ever need – including homemade strawberry jams, gins, and more.

Read more:

Strawberry season has now started at Kenyon Hall Farm, and you can book your tickets online for £5.95 – £6.95 per person, with spaces released up to 24–48 hours ahead of time.

Included in your ticket price is a punnet to fill, and anything else you pick is paid for by weight on the way out.

Find out more and book your tickets here.

Featured Image – The Manc Group

What's On

You can win two VIP tickets to a Co-op Live show as part of a heartwarming Manc charity raffle

Danny Jones Danny Jones Win VIP Co-op Live tickets Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity raffle 2026

Fancy bagging yourself the posh treatment at the biggest indoor gig and live entertainment venue in the city? Well, you can do just that by entering the latest Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity raffle, which is offering a pair of VIP tickets to a Co-op Live show.

All you have to do is simply do your bit for a crucial local cause.

It’s one that we’ve worked closely with in the past on many occasions: the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, which helps house rough sleepers across the region.

Teaming up with The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness – which was created specifically to generate funds for this ongoing crisis – as well as an upcoming community social, all you have to do to be in with a chance is put your name down for a cheap raffle ticket.

Writing in the caption of the post, the Mayor’s Charity has revealed that “Cross Club Social and The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness are teaming up to raffle off 2x VIP Co-op Live tickets to a show of your choosing.”

That’s right, not just any random show – you get to pick which one you fancy going along to in style.

As it goes on to explain: “Entries are £5, with proceeds going towards ‘A Bed Every Night’ via The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness.”

With the 2026 edition of the annual fundraising relay event, on behalf of Greater Manchester’s homeless community, taking place this November (find out more on the GMMC website and keep up to date with us here at The Manc for the latest) they’re hoping to get the donations going nice and early.

For anyone unaware, the Cross Club Social, or ‘XCS’, has been going for a few years now; it brings together runners from all over the 10 boroughs for a big post-race party, all whilst raising money for charitable organisations.

The next edition will be taking place this Friday, 19 June, over at the award-winning Fairfield Social Club, where an all-day party will run, pardon the pun, well into the night.

Better still, entrants into the raffle don’t have to wait long to find out if they’re a winner, as the lucky recipient is set to be announced the following Saturday (20 Jun) after the big shindig over on the XCS Instagram page.

The Mayor’s Charity team signed off by adding, “Good luck and together, we will end homelessness” – a mission that many Manc groups, especially, have been working so hard to make possible in recent times.

For instance, last year alone, the aforementioned 24 Hour Run, whose team will be in attendance and taking donations for at XCS 2026, generated a whopping £70k, and the total tally has now reached truly life-changing sums.

As for the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity raffle, you can grab a ticket HERE for just a fiver to secure your chance to go along to a VIP night at Co-op Live. Fingers crossed!

The Manchester 24 Hour Run raises over £70,000 for the region’s homeless community
Find out more about these incredible campaigners.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Cross Club Social MCR

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