The best: Things to do around Manchester this January

Manchester City Women return from the Christmas break with a home clash against Everton, as Andrée Jeglertz’s side look to maintain their momentum at the top of the Women’s Super League. Welcoming 10th-placed Everton to the Joie Stadium, City will be targeting a fifth consecutive league win ahead of a pivotal top-of-the-table meeting with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on 1 February.

With kids’ tickets from just £5, more than two hours of free pre-match entertainment, and the ground reachable in just 10 minutes on the tram from town, it’s a cracking day out for the entire family, even boasting the accolade of ‘Best Women’s Super League Matchday Experience’.

Open daily and free to visit, the Science and Industry Museum offers a dizzying array of absorbing experiences throughout the month.

The recently reopened Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery immerses visitors in the sights, sounds and stories of energy and industry, from monumental engines to hands-on engineering challenges.

Elsewhere, the Textiles Gallery explores Manchester’s cotton legacy through live machinery demonstrations, while Revolution Manchester charts the city’s world-changing innovations, from Rolls-Royce motorcars and early computing to the isolation of graphene. Families can also enjoy interactive discovery in the Experiment Gallery, alongside the intimate exhibition Stephen Hawking at Work, offering rare insight into the physicist’s life and legacy.

Over at Aviva Studios, Factory International presents Lightroom’s awe-inspiring immersive experience exploring humanity’s relationship with the Moon. Narrated by Tom Hanks, The Moonwalkers uses monumental projections, surround sound and an original score to retell the Apollo missions while looking ahead to the Artemis programme and the next era of lunar exploration.

With floor-to-ceiling lunar visuals, the 50-minute experience is accessible, family-friendly and peerlessly spectacular.

Aaron Sorkin’s award-winning stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s seminal novel arrives at Lowry in January. Set in 1930s Alabama, the production examines racial injustice, moral courage and childhood innocence through the eyes of young Scout Finch. With incisive dialogue and powerful performances, this timely drama brings one of literature’s most important stories vividly to life.

On Sat 17 Jan, ‘cat-suit wearing noughties rock legend’ and founding member of The Darkness Justin Hawkins brings his cult YouTube show Justin Hawkins Rides Again to the RNCM as part of another insightful, hilarious tour.

Audiences can expect razor-sharp commentary on the music industry, contemporary culture and rock mythology, delivered with trademark self-awareness and humour, with a fiendish excess of laughs, anecdotes and irreverent observations.

The smash-hit musical returns to Manchester with Sidonie Smith starring as pop icon Rachel Marron and Adam Garcia as her devoted bodyguard Frank Farmer. Featuring Whitney Houston classics including I Will Always Love You and I Wanna Dance with Somebody, this glossy, high-stakes romance delivers blockbuster drama and show-stopping vocals.

On Sat 24 Jan, Bartók’s dark, hypnotic opera receives a gripping concert performance from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

A fusion of gothic horror and psychological drama, Bluebeard’s Castle follows Judith who, alone in a foreboding castle, opens seven forbidden doors, uncovering unsettling truths about her husband with each revelation. Conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, with Christopher Purves and Jennifer Johnston in the leading roles, the iconic opera promises an intense, intriguing and immersive night of music at The Bridgewater Hall.

Indie stalwart Miles Kane rounds off the month with a headline show at Albert Hall, touring his sixth album Sunlight In The Shadows.

Produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Kane’s latest record blends psych-infused rock ’n’ roll with melodic swagger, shimmering guitars and stadium-ready hooks, as he takes to the stage to deliver a high-octane set spanning new material and solo favourites.

Manchester Museum spotlights a prehistoric icon in its upcoming family-friendly exhibition, Triceratops: Eat, Roam, Repeat.

Visitors can discover the fascinating history of one of the most famous dinosaurs of all time through vibrant displays and hands-on activities, from its bird-like beak and frill to its three-horned face and rhino-like body. Learn more about how the Triceratops has inspired stories in popular culture, while young explorers can try their hands at a fossil dig. At the heart of the exhibition, for a limited time, is a rare Triceratops skull fossil.

For a hearty slice of comfort food to ward off the cold snap, the legendary Black Friar pub and restaurant welcomes the new year with another edition of the Festival of Pie. For just £10, diners can tuck into a rotating menu of authentic northern pies, with meaty, vegetarian and vegan options available every day. Classics sit alongside ever-changing specials, with the option to add creamy mash and seasonal greens for £3.

Available all day Monday and Tuesday, and 12–6.30pm Wednesday to Friday, until the end of February.

For just £20 throughout the month, diners can enjoy bottomless helpings of curry, as well as rice and naan.

Available from 5pm-10pm every weekday, guests can pick from a rotating menu of four curries, with meat, vegetarian and vegan options always available. Simply pick your favourite from that day’s menu, and enjoy as many portions as you like within a 90-minute sitting.

In Jodrell Bank’s brand-new dome show, narrated by Richard Armitage, audiences are invited to experience the thrill of a rocket launch, the challenges of life in space and cutting-edge NASA technology as humanity prepares for its biggest step in space exploration to date: setting foot on Mars.

The Portico hosts an afternoon of experimental yoga flow that combines movement and poetry later this month. Hosted within the stunning surroundings of the hidden literary landmark, instructor Polly Anna Steiner will lead a class inspired by Christina Rosetti’s poem, Winter: My Secret.

The National Trust has unveiled Mosschester, a new public programme designed to bring the secrets of local moss to life and explore the region’s natural heritage. As part of the project, Castlefield Viaduct becomes the backdrop for the University of Manchester’s MossWorlds exhibition, which offers visitors the opportunity to explore the historical, contemporary and future importance of mosses in the Greater Manchester area, through art, music and poetry.

Closing out the long month, audiences have the unique opportunity to see the cult classic, multi-Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs with Howard Shore’s iconic soundtrack performed live by the Hallé orchestra at The Bridgewater Hall.