Featuring an array of incredible exhibitions, interactive science, free Halloween entertainment and a mercifully expansive range of child-friendly daytime activities, Manchester has something for families of all ages and sizes throughout the October half-term holiday.
Here are some of the highlights:
Taking place ahead of their Manchester rave-inspired Silence of the Baths party later in the evening, Victoria Baths’ Mini Monster Mash welcomes families with chill-seeking children of all ages into the hair-raising heritage building for a daytime party featuring creepy crafts, ghastly games and a silent disco.
Book your tickets for just £4 per person below.
Throughout the holiday, Jodrell Bank hosts an unmissable programme of fun-filled spacefaring adventures for the whole family, from breathtaking dome shows and interactive workshops to world-class photography and hair-raising experiments.
Throughout the week, curious cosmonauts can search for extraterrestrial life among the galactic greenery on the Alien Trail, before witnessing the wonder of space science first hand with the thrilling live show, Martian Mayhem. In the planetarium, special dome screenings of Ted’s Space Adventure transports younger audiences across the stars in a delightful interactive extravaganza, while a variety of drop-in sessions invite visitors to uncover the wonders of computer coding, astronomy and more.
Check out our roundup HERE, and book your visit below.
Alongside the return of Manchester’s wildly popular Monster Trail, the weekend-long Halloween in the City programme stages a fun-filled carnival of spectacular scares around the city centre. From the Monsters Rock! music festival, a fancy dress competition and a beastly procession to a traders market, rave-yards and plenty of ghoulish games, this year’s blood-curdling bash promises hair-raising entertainment for families with children of all ages.
Find out more below.
From Sun 20 Oct to Sun 3 Nov, the Grade II listed former home of iconic Mancunian author Elizabeth Gaskell hosts an insightful and engaging schedule of Halloween-themed literary craft workshops and interactive sessions, where families can design and make their own owls in the Servants’ Hall, dress up in vibrant period costumes, take part in a wide array of hands-on activities and explore the grounds along the famous Cranford the Cat trail.
Tickets cost £7.50, with under-16s admitted free with every paying adult and tickets redeemable for as many visits as you want for twelve months from the date of booking.
The Lowry’s brand-new free exhibition Queens celebrates the heroines of history, alongside the groundbreaking women of the modern world , and asks ‘what kind of Queen are you?’
Drawing inspiration from the hit Tudor satire production Six, the collection showcases the incredible costumes and fan art from the show. Along with the collection, the exhibition is accompanied by a series of drop-in activities, specially commissioned artwork, family-friendly events, live music and dance parties.
Running throughout half term and into the new year, Manchester Museum’s absorbing, revelatory exhibition Wild explores our precarious but optimistic dynamic with the natural world, taking over the Exhibition Hall with a fascinating examination of the ways in which people around the world are rebuilding our connections with a planet in jeopardy.
Featuring an immersive installation, audio, film and interactive elements, as well as an array of natural history collections and artworks, Wild transports visitors across a boundlessly diverse global topography and a wide array of voices, from Aboriginal elders to academic researchers, to champion the innovative methods used to restore biodiversity and shape a sustainable future environment while challenging how we think about and interact with nature.
Featuring nine commissioned artworks from Manchester-based artists in celebration of their respective footballing heroes, MARKERS honours the off-pitch impact of pioneering players in an exploration of their unique personal journeys, the skills with which they’ve equipped themselves and their involvement in causes spanning LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, women’s football and ethnic minority representation.
Heroes included in MARKERS includes Eric Cantona, Raheem Sterling, Park Ji-sung, Mary Phillip, David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Pete the Badge, Justin Fashanu and Lucy Clark.
The National Football Museum also provides a Community Creative Hub which encourages visitors to express their love for their favourite footballers with boundless artistic imagination.
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Fri 18 Oct 2024
Running from Fri 18 – Sun 27 Oct, Manchester Science Festival returns to the city with ten action-packed days of captivating family fun.
Visitors can get hands-on with cutting edge technology through a series of pop-up activities and drop-in workshops, take part in a virtual reality space expedition, discover the intricate relationship between our brains and bodies and much more, alongside the entrancing new exhibition State of Mind, an immersive audiovisual experience which explores the profound impact of smartphones, apps and other media technologies on our lives and behaviour.
Check out our Manchester Science Festival family-friendly programme overview HERE.