We may be coming off-the-back of one of the busiest weeks of year so far, but there’s still so much happening this week too.
Valentine’s Day and Pancake Day are over and done with now, but that doesn’t mean the Greater Manchester social calendar is slowing down any time soon, as there’s still a wide range of exciting events and activities to get stuck into this week – especially as it’s half term in some of the region’s boroughs.
But if you’re finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do, not to worry, as we’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Hamilton: The Story of Tonight
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
Monday 19 – Thursday 29 February
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Hamilton: The Story of Tonight / Credit: Danny Kaan (via Supplied)
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is celebrating Manchester hosting the multi award-winning cultural phenomenon Hamilton for the very first time with a photography exhibition showcasing moments both on and off stage.
Open for free to the general public until the end of February, Hamilton: The Story of Tonight offers a glimpse into the journey of the musical that captured the imaginations of audiences in our city.
20 photographs taken by Hamilton’s production photographer, Danny Kaan, are currently on show.
Manchester Open Exhibition is back for the third time in our city.
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Taking place every two years down at HOME, the Open Exhibition is the biggest celebration of Greater Manchester’s creative talent, and sees HOME’s Gallery walls filled with 480 artworks created by the people of our region that have been specially-selected by a panel consisting of art experts and community representatives.
Open to all, the Exhibition brings together artwork including paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, ceramics, digital and mixed media, video, audio, and so much more.
It’s that time once again… the Six Nations is back.
With the international rugby tournament having now officially kicked-off, we thought it would be only right to put together a list of the very best places in Greater Manchester to head on down to and catch a game.
After all, we don’t want you scrambling around to find places showing the action, we just want you to sit back and enjoy the games.
Read our round-up of the best places to watch the Six Nations here.
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Did you know there’s currently 15,000 free cinema tickets up for grabs this month?
It’s all part of Escapes – a new project supported by the British Film Institute (BFI) and National Lottery funding that’s giving everyone the opportunity to “enjoy the big screen experience” and “discover independent cinema”.
The thousands of tickets are now available across the UK for completely free of charge, and there’s a handful of Greater Manchester cinemas taking part.
Escapes / Credit: Unsplash | A24
So whether you’re someone who prioritises a trip to the cinema, someone who treasures a visit but only on a special occasion, or someone who’s just keen to discover more, there’s a free ticket to see brand-new wrestling biopic film, The Iron Claw, with your name on it
Back by popular demand, The Black Friar’s ‘Pie Festival’ has returned for 2024.
There’s nothing that sounds more inviting on a cold evening than a lovely warming pie, right? So when we heard that The Black Friar’s now-annual Pie Festival was making a 2024 comeback, we have no shame in admitting we did a little dance.
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Now in its third edition, the Salford restaurant has brought back the parade of meat and gravy, sweet and savoury, and all things pie and pastry-encrusted – with something for everyone on the menu.
Best of all, not only are there some enticing flavours on offer, but they’re also only £10 each.
Don’t forget there’s a world-first exhibition still running down at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, and it’s giving families the chance to “dive headfirst into the digestive system” and “travel like a poo”.
The new blockbuster exhibition, Operation Ouch!, is based on and will see the award-winning CBBC children’s TV series brought to life.
Visitors can expect interactive experiences, amazing objects from the Science Museum Group’s collection, and appearances from world-renowned doctors who will be on hand to guide audiences through this “lively, interactive, and playful adventure to better understand our brilliant bodies”.
Welly Walk – A Family Trail / Credit: National Trust
The National Trust is encouraging Greater Manchester families to “brush off your best boots and wring out your waterproofs” to join in with a ‘Welly Walk’ around the gardens at the beautiful Dunham Massey this half term.
You’ll get to spot colourful displays, get stuck into playful installations, spot some resident deers, and see the first bulbs peeking out of the winter soil as you walk around, all before you sit down to enjoy a hot drink in the restaurant or café when your legs get tired.
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Find out more, and book your ‘Welly Walk’ timeslot here.
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Mini Master Model Builder UK
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester
Monday 19 – Sunday 25 February
Mini Master Model Builder UK / Credit: LEGOLAND
Is your child a LEGO super fan? Do they reckon they could build impressive LEGO creations in their sleep? Well, if they’re feeling brave enough and are ready to put their skills to the test, then you’ll want to take them down to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester, as the hunt is one for a talented youngster to be crowned the UK’s newest ‘Mini Master Model Builder’.
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For only the second time ever, young LEGO fans will have the chance to let their imaginations run wild in a “bricktastic” competition, by building the most epic creation entirely out of LEGO bricks in an attempt to take home the coveted title.
Oh, and they’ll could also win a handsome £500 too, if they take the crown.
One of the most popular weekly foodie events is back at Manchester’s largest street food fair GRUB over several days this week.
Taking place from Wednesday right through to Sunday, with different independent street food traders on the lineup each week, the GRUB Street Food Fair will this week see the likes of Eat Like A Greek, Gatto Pizza, Nina’s Taco Truck, and Mary’s Cakery Makery all serve up wide range of mouthwatering delights for you to try.
With loads of vegan and gluten-free options on the menu too, this is an inclusive weekly event with something for all appetites to tuck into.
The hugely popular wizard-themed steam train will be back travelling through Greater Manchester once again this week.
Aspiring witches and wizards for all ages are invited to enrol in the spellbinding school of sorcery on the East Lancashire Railway this summer as they take a “wacky and wonderful whistle stop tour” of the Wizard Academy.
They’ll get to learn to become a master of mystery and magic during this immersive interactive experience through the Irwell Valley of wonders that’s hauled by a genuine steam – and spell – powered train.
Brickhouse Social has announced that it 00s-themed brunch is back by popular demand.
The Manchester social hub is inviting music lovers down to enjoy 90-minutes of bottomless pizza slices, fizz, bottled beers, and select cocktails on its ooftop terrace every Saturday over the nexr couple of months – with a resident DJ playing all the best tunes from the 2000’s.
Tickets will set you back £33pp, and there’s two Brunch sittings available, so you can opt for 1-3pm, or 3:30-5:30pm.
Seconds Sunday Roast Carvery / Credit: Freight Island
Freight Island’s most famous Sunday feast, Seconds Carvery, is back to bring the good people of Manchester some proper winter-warming comfort food.
Diners can now dive into this modern take on a classic carvery every Sunday.
Running between 12pm and 6pm, you book yourself a half-hour slot to see the carvery chef on the terrace, where you choose a main from roast topside of Highland beef, marmalade glazed gammon joint, roast turkey crown, or roast squash and wild mushroom wellington.
But the stand-out feature of Seconds has to be the bottomless trimmings – including proper Yorkshire puddings, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, buttered mash, broccoli, glazed carrots, petit pois, and 48-hour gravy.
Blue Man Group at The Lowry – odd, creative, entertaining and legendary
Daisy Jackson
The Blue Man Group is a weird show.
It’s weird to watch three men painted blue stare wide-eyed and wordless into an audience.
It’s weird that the blue men then make entire acts out of catching marshmallows in their mouths, or spewing UV paint from holes in the chests of their sweatshirts, or staging a silent blind date between two audience members.
The way they creep around the stage, pigeon-toed and wild-eyed, twitching nervously at every audience noise, is weird.
The way they never speak or smile or break character, even for a split second, is weird.
And it’s weird that this very weird formula has been captivating audiences for 37 years – until, that is, you see it for yourself.
Because every bit of oddness of a Blue Man Group show, including the Bluevolution World Tour currently at The Lowry, is balanced with brilliant comedic timing, genuine percussive talent, and ever-changing stage design.
At points during their show they make music from a drainpipe that they turn into a sort of drum-trombone hybrid.
They make music from cereal boxes and fake smartphone screens, and art from gumball machines and even an audience member.
The Blue Man Group making percussion from Cap’n Crunch cereal. Credit: SuppliedA star moment of The Blue Man Group at The Lowry. Credit: Supplied
The Blue Man Group warms up the crowd by displaying birthday messages or words of congratulations to specific audience members, like an Olympic gold medallist sat in the stalls, encouraging everyone to join in.
They fire out so many coloured streamer ribbons at one point that a child who’s walking down an aisle ends up entangled like a mummy on its way to a 90s rave.
They’re helped along throughout the show by a small, video game-like drumming presence in a sort of blue dreadlocked bob wig, who – to sound very Gen Z – gives me the ick.
There’s a fair amount of audience participation and if you don’t like the thought of a blue man staring at you (even when you try your hardest to look anywhere but back at him) it might not be the one for you.
UV paint and a set of drums are an iconic Blue Man Group stunt. Credit: Supplied
And there are moments where it all gets a bit too weird for my tastes, like when an entire segment is made from the sound of them stuffing Cap’n Crunch cereal into their mouths or whipping neon aerials around.
It’s impressive but it doesn’t actually SOUND good. (See also: beatboxing. Yes it’s very impressive that you can make a trumpet noise at the same time as drumming with your lips but shall we just not).
Still, with 37 years of sell-out success across the planet, The Blue Man Group is a creative and entertaining way to spend an evening.
And honestly, everyone should see this legendary piece of live entertainment at least once.
The Blue Man Group Bluevolution World Tour is on at The Lowry until Sunday 6 October – get your tickets HERE.
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 7 – 13 October 2024
Emily Sergeant
It’s the first full week of October, and the spookiest time of year is just around the corner.
We’re into a new month and the seasons have well and truly changed now, so as we all start to fully immerse ourselves in everything autumn has to offer, there’s absolutely no shortage of things for the whole family to be getting up to across Greater Manchester.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide this week.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Scare City 2024
Camelot Theme Park
Monday 7 October – onwards
Scare City 2024 / Credit: Supplied
Scare City has returned to the North West for its fifth year running with its “most immersive” horror experience to date.
Taking over the grounds of the abandoned Camelot Theme Park for “another year of terror”, just as it has done for the past three years following the success of its initial 2020 launch as a drive-in cinema, this year’s event features a selection of terrifying zones to weave your way through – some familiar, some brand new.
Tickets are now available to book at £26.95 for standard entry, or £36.95 for the ‘Gold Entry’ (both plus a £2.45 booking free).
Find out more and grab tickets to this year’s event here.
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STAB Horror Film Season
Cultplex
Monday 7 October – onwards
STAB Horror Film Season / Credit: Cultplex | Paramount Pictures
October is here… and so is STAB Horror Film Season.
Now a much-loved staple of Manchester’s spooky season, Cultplex’s annual horror film festival is back for 2024 from this week, and the Red Bank-based ‘mini cini’ will once again be taken over by a whole host of scary movies and more as part of the month-long festival.
This year’s lineup features sci-fi and supernatural classics such as The Exorcist and Alien, as well as full-on movie marathons, special spooky one-offs, and other events.
Manc visitors will be able to walk through the iconic Jurassic World gates, explore some richly-themed environments, and encounter a life-sized Brachiosaurus, Velociraptors, and the most fearsome dinosaur of all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
NEW OPENING – Museum of Illusions / Credit: The Manc Group
The world-famous Museum of Illusions filled with optical illusions and interactive exhibits is now open in Manchester.
Inside the new attraction – which opened last week on Market Street, and is the only location in the UK – visitors are able to dangle upside down on a Metrolink tram, have their minds blown in the Vortex Tunnel, and probably learn a thing or two while they’re at it.
Visitors are promised mind-bending illusions and curious games around every corner.
There’s even somee brand-new, Manchester-exclusive installations too, like The Reversed Room, and The Building Illusion, where you can dangle, Spider-man-style, from a classic city brick terraced building.
Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine / Credit: Science Museum Group
More than 100 objects and stories collected during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic are now on display as part of a new exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum.
The groundbreaking new exhibition, titled Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine, explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed, while uncovering the inspiring stories of scientists and innovators around the globe who collaborated to tackle the worldwide COVID-19 challenge along the way.
Manchester Literature Festival is back for 2024 this Friday.
This year’s festival offers unique experiences for audiences to interact with some of the finest writers and thinkers from across the globe in a welcoming place where people come together to share their passion for language, be entertained, learn, and reflect on their connections with place, politics and people.
MLF is all about nurturing the next generation of readers, writers, and creatives, and there’s a jam-packed programme of events.
Brought to the old Bowlers Cafe site by the same team behind the award-winning La Bandera, El Kabron is Manchester’s newest city centre opening, and it’s a small plates and snack bar inspired by the taverns of northern Spain.
Here you’ll find tapas, pintxos (basically Spanish bar snacks served on bread or cocktail sticks), bocadillo-style sandwiches, lots of lovely cured meats. and so much more.
Stockport is currently hosting its inaugural Paint Jam, and this huge event covers a 1km walking tour from Merseyway to GRIT Studios on Canal Street, with four different locations showcasing their own taste of culture.
Breakdancers, food and drink options, and DJs will keep you company along the trail as you immerse yourself in everything the Greater Manchester borough has to offer.
Akse P19, Qubek, Hammo, Liam Bonini, Caroline Daly, and Kelzo are some of the artists involved.
Festival season might be winding down, but party season is officially upon us, as The Warehouse Project has finally kicked off for 2024.
Running right until the legendary New Year’s Eve party on 31 December, Depot Mayfield has been transformed into one of the UK’s largest nightclub venues – with acts from all over the world descending upon Manchester to perform innovative sets.
Everything you need to know about WHP24 can be found here.
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Red Rose Diner
East Lancashire Railway
Friday 11 October – onwards
Red Rose Diners / Credit: ELR
Greater Manchester’s iconic heritage railway is currently hosting one of the most unique fine dining experiences in the region.
Running on selected Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the summer, East Lancashire Railway’s ‘Red Rose Diners’ are described as being “the ultimate first class foodie experience”, as they start with a glass of fizz and stretch over an almost three-hour steam train journey through the Irwell Valley.
The experience includes a four-course dinner with complimentary sparkling wine, followed by tea or coffee and after-dinner chocolates.
Little Mancs who love LEGO can take part in some interactive building workshops in Greater Manchester this Sunday.
Aimed at young creators aged six to 12, the workshops – will take place down at Manchester Arndale and the Trafford Centre, as well as online for those who can’t make it in person – will be focused on themes such as entertainment, space, imagination, and gaming.
Kids can create their own ‘video game level’ or buildable characters, or have a go at building anything they want, all with a little help from the LEGO store associates for guidance.
Find out more and see if you can book FREE tickets here.
Emily Sergeant -
15th February 2024 
