Things to do in Manchester
Knowledge Train Manchester,
Swan Buildings,
20 Swan Street,
Manchester M4 5JW,
England,
United Kingdom.
Music
A popular nightlife destination in the city centre is Mathew Street and the Gay Quarter. The Albert Dock and Lark Lane in Aigburth also contain an abundance of bars and late-night venues.
There are music venues located across the city, but the Echo Arena is the largest.
Smaller venues include the Band on the Wall, the Night and Day Café, the Ruby Lounge, and The Deaf Institute.
Manchester has two symphony orchestras, the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic. Manchester is a centre for musical education having both the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music.
The main classical music venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street until the Bridgewater Hall opened in 1926.
The Whit Friday brass-band contest takes place annually in the neighbouring areas of Saddleworth and Tameside.
More music venues in Manchester
Band on the Wall25 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 834 1786 |
Albert HallCity Centre, 27 Peter Street, Manchester M2 5QR, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 817 3490 |
Rebellion Manchester2B Whitworth Street West, Manchester M1 5WZ, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 236 9732 |
The Stoller HallHunts Bank, Manchester M3 1DA, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0333 130 0967 |
O2 Ritz ManchesterWhitworth Street West, Manchester M1 5NQ, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 714 4140 |
Manchester AcademyManchester University Students Union, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PR, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 275 2930 |
Map showing music venues in Manchester
Performing arts
Manchester has a thriving theatre and dance scene. A number of large performance venues, including Manchester Opera House, Palace Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre feature touring shows and West End productions.
Smaller venues include the Contact Theatre, the Dancehouse on Oxford Road and HOME, a new arts complex with two theatre spaces, five cinemas and an art exhibition space.
The city hosts the Manchester International Festival, a twice-annual arts festival focused on original work, which is housed at The Factory, named after Manchester’s Factory Records.
More theatres in Manchester
Hope Mill Theatre113 Pollard Street, Manchester M4 7JA, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 275 9141 |
Royal Exchange TheatreSt Ann’s Square, Manchester M2 7DH, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 833 9833 |
Palace Theatre Manchester97 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6FT, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0333 009 6690 |
Contact TheatreOxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 274 0600 |
Map showing theatres in Manchester
Museums
Manchester’s museums celebrate Manchester’s history, industrial heritage and its role in the Industrial Revolution.
A reconstructed part of the Roman fort of Mamucium is open to the public in Castlefield.
The Science and Industry Museum has a large collection of steam locomotives, industrial machinery and aircraft.
The Museum of Transport displays a collection of historic buses and trams. Trafford Park is home to Imperial War Museum North, while the Manchester Museum has notable Egyptology and natural history collections.
The Manchester Art Gallery houses collection of European paintings and one of Britain’s main collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Other exhibition spaces and museums in Manchester include Islington Mill in Salford, the National Football Museum at Urbis, Castlefield Gallery, the Manchester Costume Gallery at Platt Fields Park, the People’s History Museum and the Manchester Jewish Museum.
More museums in Manchester
Science and Industry MuseumLiverpool Road, Manchester M3 4FP, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0330 058 0058 |
Salford Museum and Art GalleryCrescent, Salford M5 4WU, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 778 0800 |
Manchester MuseumUniversity of, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 275 2648 |
Manchester Jewish Museum190 Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 8LW, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 834 9879 |
People’s History MuseumLeft Bank, Manchester M3 3ER, England, United Kingdom. Phone: 0161 838 9190 |
Map showing museums in Manchester
Architecture
Manchester’s buildings include many architectural styles, from Victorian to contemporary architecture.
Manchester Town Hall, in Albert Square, was built in the Gothic revival style and is seen as one of the most important Victorian buildings in England
Manchester also has a number of skyscrapers, the tallest being the CIS Tower near Manchester Victoria station, the Beetham Tower and the Deansgate Square South Tower.
The Green Building, opposite Oxford Road station, is a pioneering eco-friendly housing project, while the recently completed One Angel Square is one of the most sustainable large buildings in the world.
The award-winning Heaton Park in the north of the city borough is one of the largest municipal parks in Europe.
Manchester has 6 local nature reserves including Chorlton Water Park, Blackley Forest, Clayton Vale and Chorlton Ees, Ivy Green, Boggart Hole Clough and Highfield Country Park.
Manchester trivia
During WW2, casting and machining at locomotive factories in Gorton was switched to bomb making. Rubber works in Chorlton-on-Medlock made barrage balloons. In Trafford Park, engineers made Avro Manchester and Avro Lancaster bombers.
Manchester was the target of heavy bombing by the Luftwaffe. The biggest raid took place during the Christmas Blitz in December 1940.
A large part of the historic city centre was destroyed, including 165 warehouses, 200 business premises, and 150 offices. 376 were killed and 30,000 houses were damaged. Manchester Cathedral, Royal Exchange and Free Trade Hall were seriously damaged.
By 1963 the port of Manchester was the United Kingdom’s 3rd largest, but the canal was unable to handle the large ships and the port closed in 1982.
Regeneration began in the late 1980s. 2 bids to host the Olympic Games were part of a process to raise the profile of the city.
Spurred by the investment of the XVII Commonwealth Games, the city centre has undergone extensive regeneration. New complexes such as The Printworks and Corn Exchange have become popular shopping, eating and entertainment areas. Manchester Arndale is the United Kingdom’s largest city-centre shopping centre.
Large city sections from the 1960s have been demolished and re-developed. The 47-storey Beetham Tower was the tallest United Kingdom building outside London for some years.
