The best things to do in Manchester this week ft retro toys, Gen Z comedy, and Louder Than Words festival

This event, aimed at anyone curious about architecture, cities and building more inclusive futures, will challenge the notion that experimentation belongs only to radical forms or speculative projects. Expect lively debate and insights from the panel of five leading industry professionals.

The Modernist in the NQ is bringing its Galt Toys exhibition to the influential brand’s birthplace of Stockport this week. There’ll be toys and games from the main exhibition plus you can meet the owners of the collection and authors of a new book about Galt Toys, Steve Marland and Natalie Ainscough.

If you’re in the mood for some super-catchy, symphonic sad girl music, get yourself a ticket for Sorcha Richardson on Thursday night. The new album, Draw the Outline, from this award-nominated Irish indie artist has been on our headphones for weeks.

Hear firsthand what it was like to wake up in Kyiv on the day Russia invaded. Manchester-based Ukrainian journalist Maria Romanenko and her partner Jez Myers give an eye-opening (and incredibly gripping) account of their experience in the frantic hours and days after the first explosions. Don’t miss this chance to hear an insider’s perspective on the invasion, delivered with honesty and dark humour.

The UK’s biggest music literature festival, Louder Than Words, is back this weekend with a programme that includes Clint Boon, Nick Heyward, Legs McNeil and John Robb, alongside discussions of punk, club culture and iconic bands.

End the week on a high with stand-up comedian Grace Campbell unapologetically saying the quiet bits out loud at New Century Hall. Self-described as ‘loud and anxious, spiritual and materialistic,’ in her new tour The Lady is a Tramp she asks, why can’t she be everything at once?