Free things to do in Manchester this weekend ft. Sonia Boyce + more

Sonia Boyce Retrospective at Manchester Art Gallery
Our first pick of free things to do in Manchester this weekend is this new exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery, offering up a retrospective of work by the Afro-Caribbean British artist Sonia Boyce. The exhibition covers everything from her earliest drawings, through to some pieces commissioned specifically for this exhibition. The exhibition runs until September, and you can find out more about it in our full preview.
Fri 23 Mar – Sun 2 Sep, Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL. Tel: 0161 235 8888, times vary, www.manchestrartgallery.org

The Next Term Festival at Rogue Artists’ Studios
This weekend Rogue Artists Studios plays host to The Next Term Festival, an arts festival that will touch on virtually every practice imaginable over its two day run. Over Saturday and Sunday, you can catch spoken word performances from Reece Williams of Young Identity, Keisha Thompson and Cave Man, you can witness live music from all-female jazz trio Bumerang, and take part in a whole host of workshops including lyric-writing, origami and ‘digital knitting’. There will also be a lively debate corner on the Saturday, hosted by designer and youth worker Angel Sweeney, and immersive art installations placed throughout the venue and running all through the weekend.
Sat 24 Mar – Sun 25 Mar, Rogue Artists Studios, 72 Chapeltown Street, Manchester, M1 2WH. 11am – 6pm, www.thenextterm.com

PRES Weekender
Juice bar PRES on Bury New Road will be hosting a ‘weekender’, this Saturday and Sunday, which might sound daunting and ambitious, but it’s really just a great excuse to swing by and try out their new Spring range of juices. The fruit baristas of PRES will be serving up a diverse menu of shakes and smoothies all weekend, with free shot samples for you to test out. They’re also running a competition to win a free brunch, and sharing their Facebook event can get a discount on one of their juice cleanses.
Sat 24 Mar – Sun 25 Mar, PRES, 441 Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1AF. 10am – 4pm, www.facebook.com

Odd Bod Art Market at Common (pictured)
This weekend, Edge Street bar Common welcomes back The Odd Bod Art Market. Run by the same odd bods who run the venue’s monthly colouring club nights, this art market brings together all of the city’s best alternative and underground artists, who’ll be selling everything from prints and zines to textiles and jewellery. For this fourth instalment, the organisers have invited illustrator Caroline Dowsett, prop maker Mariel Osborn, Margo Ceramics and many many more exhibitors along to flog their wares. Drop by and pick up something unique this Sunday!
Sun 25 Mar, Common, 39-41 Edge St, Manchester, M4 1HW. 4pm – 8pm, www.facebook.com