Free things to do in Manchester this week ft. Ordsall Hall tour, terrace party at Hatch + more

The Manchester Environmental Research Institute at The University of Manchester is hosting a webinar this week showcasing water-related research from across the university. If you’re interested in sustainability and how we can actively integrate water research into environmental concerns, this promises to be a fascinating discussion of what’s going on right here in Manchester in this crucial area.

Bonsai, a pop-up party regularly hosted at Hatch, celebrated their 1st birthday during lockdown. Now that lockdown restrictions have eased, they’re hosting a proper (socially distanced) terrace party this Saturday, taking over the Aviary terrace with resident DJs playing house, disco and minimal tunes.

Club Isolation (an online rock and metal club night) are hosting Locked Down Anarchy, featuring all the best punk, political and protest tracks from the likes of Green Day, Rage Against The Machine and loads more. There’ll be a chat room so you can virtually interact with other partygoers, and if the party keeps going past the end of the night, so does the music!

Ordsall Hall is the oldest building in Salford, dating back to 1177, and they’ve reopened in line with current government guidelines. You’re now able to pre-book a tour of the hall taking in most of the rooms in the house, and their cafe is operating on a takeaway service only – but you can enjoy any food and drink in the beautiful grounds (try the picnic tables in the orchard!)

This summer, Manchester Central Library were supposed to showcase a fascinating exhibition on Russia’s Second Patriotic War in the early 20th century. Unfortunately due to the current pandemic, the exhibition cannot be hosted physically but a selection of the posters, photographs and postcards that make up the exhibition are available to browse online.