Free things to do this weekend ft. Children’s Book Festival, Blackjack Brewtap + MOSI

Before you spend your entire weekend sulking about not being at Glastonbury (sod ’em, it’ll just be raining anyway), check out these free things to do in Manchester this weekend. Family-friendly activities and a piss-up in a brewery sound much better than muddy fields and Kanye, right?

Manchester Children’s Book Festival (pictured)
The Manchester Children’s Book Festival returns for 2015, with events taking place at Man Met University and other spots across the city. The core family fun day on Saturday is suited for everyone from pre-readers and nursery age-children to teens and older, featuring arts, crafts, workshops, a bustling market-place of stalls and exhibitions, a travelling storytelling tent, a time travel-themed fancy dress parade and, er, a minature pony. For the full line-up of events, click here.
Fri 26 June – Sun 5th July, Various venues and times, Most events FREE, www.mcbf.org

Blackjack Brewtap
Fresh from the launch of their new Northern Quarter boozer, The Smithfield, Blackjack Brewery opens its doors once again for a right old knees up. No firm details as yet, but judging by their previous events, you can expect a bevy of street food, music and – obviously – a shed ton of beer.
Fri 26 – Sun 28 June, Blackjack Beers, 36 Gould Street, M4 4RN, Fri: 6 – 11pm, Sat: 12 – 11pm, Sun: 12 – 6pm, FREE, www.facebook.com

The Experimental Weekender at MOSI
A weekend packed with ‘fantastic forces, superhuman strength, awesome acrobats, magic materials and groovy graphene’, The Experimental Weekender explores concepts of strength and flexibility, whilst also stripping back the mystery behind of the world’s newest wonder materials, graphene. With an agility arena, a pop-up photo booth, circus performers, a forces funfair (this one’s not free, sorry), electric pencils and more, things kick off with the Friday Night Experiment – bringing graphene to the masses with acrobats, science selfies and molecular music.
Fri 26 – Sun 28 Jun, Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Rd, M3 4FP, FREE (charges apply for the funfair), www.mosi.org.uk

Know of any good freebies coming up? Email jess at manchesterwire dot co dot uk with the deets.