Free things to do this weekend ft. All Aboard, ToGather + more

Andrew Brooks Exhibition at The Portico Library
Photographer Andrew Brooks presents some of his landscape work at the Portico Library, as part of the Manifest Arts Festival. Opening this Friday, the exhibition features snaps of rural locations focusing on the sweeping natural beauty of the Peak district. It’s only running for two weeks, so it’s well worth catching early. See our full preview for more information.
Fri 7 Jul – Sat 22 Jul, The Portico, 57 Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3HY. Tel: 0161 236 6785, times vary, www.manifestartsfestival.com

Welcome Aboard Open Day at Sale Waterside Plaza
All Aboard is a community group based out of a 70ft narrowboat on the Bridgewater Canal. This Saturday you can get hands on with their pride and joy – a barge named Prince Henry – and find out more about the tours, rentals and other activities that the group runs. They’re also putting on a full programme of activities for the day including storytelling with librarian Kay Luxon, mosaic-making with artist Amanda McCrann and canal art with skilled boat painter Fred Worthington. This is a family-friendly day at the boat’s temporary moorings next to Sale’s Waterside Centre.
Sat 8 Jul, Sale Waterside, 1 Waterside, Sale, M33 7ZF. 9.30am – 4.30pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk

GRUB Extraveganza at Archway 6
Taking a temporary break from its usual venue of The Mayfield, the weekly GRUB Food Fair sets up shop at Temperance Street’s Archway 6. This weekend’s fair is a little different from the norm, with everything on offer being 100% vegan: The food, the craft beer and even the cocktails. Already confirmed are stalls from El Marchador and Levenshulme Malay restaurant Nasi Lemak, amongst others, and most local breweries will be bringing along their own isinglass-free concoctions. This one is bound to get packed out so make sure you head down early.
Sat 8 Jul, Archway 6, Temperance Street, Manchester, M12 6HR. 12pm – 10pm, www.facebook.com

ToGather at The Whitworth
Part of this year’s Manchester International Festival, you can catch the world premiere of a new exhibition and performance from German-Egyptian visual artist Susan Hefuna. Entitled ToGather, it builds on the theme of migration, and uses the stories of migrants from Iran, Trinidad, Albania and elsewhere as the basis for a dance performance that weaves through the spaces outside the gallery and around Whitworth Park. The exhibitions side consists of a number of installed wooden structures, built by Hefuna, inspired by the packing boxes stacked around her home city of Cairo. Performances take place at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm, and you can also catch Hefuna in conversation with outgoing Whitworth director – and new Tate director – Maria Balshaw at 1pm – 2pm. Advanced booking is required for the talk only.
Sun 9 Jul, The Whitworth, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER. Tel: 0161 275 7450, 1pm – 5pm, www.mif.co.uk