We finally enter the month of March this week and you’ll be pleased to know there are still heaps of free goings on around the city that’ll help you save those pennies in the run-up to spring.
From a family-friendly neighbourhood festival in Stretford to a cracking Shimrise Selects party at Ramona – here’s our rundown of the five best free things to do in Manchester this week…
Kick off the weekend with a boogie this Friday night over at Ramona which will host the Me Gusta Collective for a five-hour fiesta.
Attendees can look forward to all the best sounds of the Latin and South American diaspora as the likes of ATALAYA B2B DJ WACHITA, DR MYSTERY and OBEKA play all the grooviest Guaracha, Reggaeton, Cumbia, Dembow and Latin Club bangers.
Stretford’s neighbourhood-wide festival, StretFest, is returning to Stretford this Saturday with a cracking celebration of the 10th anniversary of Stretford Public Hall’s transfer into community ownership.
A cake-cutting celebration will take place at 2pm and, there’ll be singalongs with Stretford Uke and live music from Thingumabob and the Thingumajigs and Batala Manchester.
A bit later on in the evening, the Hall will be hosting an array of DJs curated by Nite School – an inclusive Manchester club night.
Head to Factory International this weekend for Those Who Hold Up The Sky – a new city-building game from artists BRiGHTBLACK inspired by Manchester and co-created by a group of Greater Mancunians known as Fusion Factory.
Visitors will be invited to enter a world of physical and virtual play where you can ‘remix Manchester’ and digitally create your own future city.
Ramona is the place to be again this Saturday eve as Shimrise Selects returns with their second event series featuring an exciting lineup of emerging house DJs from Manchester and London.
Dubbed the ‘groove princess’, SHIMRISE are bringing the London-born, Manchester-raised Savannahh to the MOT garage along with London-born, Essex-raised Jerome Six, a powerhouse in the tech house scene.
Expect impeccable grooves, high energy, and most importantly – a proper good rave.
- Words:
- Rhiannon Ingle
- Published on:
- Mon 24 Feb 2025
Swing by NOMA’s Altogether Otherwise this Thursday for the book launch of Seventeen, 18, 19… Playgrounds by Manchester-based researcher, Denisa Kollarová.
The research project is all about the work of the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck, a designer of hundreds of playgrounds in Amsterdam between the 1940s and 1970s which encouraged children to develop their own autonomy and creativity through play.
Expect slide shows, drinks, talks, music and some very interesting conversation.