Free things to do this weekend ft. Fake Trash, Floral Art + more

Fake Trash at Contact
Fake Trash is a new photography exhibition opening this weekend in the exhibition space of Oxford Road’s Contact Theatre. It’s a collaboration between artists Lill and Rudy, and explores what it means to be bad, rendered in a glossy, absurdist, high-fashion style. This exhibition is part of the theatre’s ‘Queer Contact’ festival, a season of LGBTQ productions, installations and exhibitions. You can catch our top five picks for the festival here.
Fri 10 Feb – Fri 30 Mar, Contact, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA. Tel: 0161 274 0600. 10am – 9pm (weekdays), 3pm – 6pm (Saturdays), Closed Sun, www.contactmcr.com

Contemporary Floral Art at The Whitworth
This Saturday, you can catch this free demonstration session at The Whitworth, the first in a series of talks and practical workshops looking at contemporary floral art. It’s led by artist and horticultural wizard Craig Bullock, an internationally-renowned floral designer. For this first demonstration, Bullock will be drawing from the work of visual artist Idris Khan, whose solo exhibition can be also be caught at the gallery. It’s free to attend, but you’ll need to book in advance using the Eventbrite link below.
Sat 11 Feb, The Whitworth, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER. 1pm – 2pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk

Lantern Festival at Manchester Fo Guang Shan Temple
You may have missed it, but Chinese New Year rolled past a couple of weeks ago. There’s still time to celebrate, as traditionally the Chinese Lantern Festival – where revellers release floating paper lanterns for good luck in the coming year – takes place 15 days in. This Saturday, one of these festival events will be hosted by Stretford’s Buddhist centre – the Fo Guang Shan Temple. So if you’re fancy making a lantern, or you’re just looking for some good fortune, this is the place to be this weekend.
Sat 11 Feb, Manchester Fo Guang Shan Temple, 54 Stretford Road, Stretford, Manchester, M16 9AF. 2pm – 5pm,  www.eventbrite.co.uk

Golden Pudel Fundraiser at Soup Kitchen
Hamburg’s Golden Pudel club is beloved amongst the European DJing community, who were left heartbroken last Autumn when its host venue burnt down. Since then, the club’s promoters have been touring relentlessly, drumming up support and donations and this month they’re coming to Manchester’s Soup Kitchen. The night features a roster of local jockeys and Pudel favourites, including F#X, Herron and Conor Thomas. It’s free to get in, but there’s a £5 suggested donation – and you’ll want to be donating even more than that to see this dance institution restored to its former glory.
Sun 12 Feb, Soup Kitchen, 31-33 Spear Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M1 1DF. 8pm – 2am, www.facebook.com