The best: Family-friendly activities and events around Manchester this May half-term

Open daily and free to visit, the Science and Industry Museum has unveiled a bumper May half-term programme packed with miniature railways, hands-on experiments and live performances inspired by the sounds and machinery of industrial Manchester.

Visitors can board a miniature steam train and ride around the museum’s newly reopened outdoor space, while Curiosity Stops and live demonstrations offer playful insights into the engines and innovations that transformed the city. Elsewhere, Manchester percussion group Drumroots will host workshops and performances inspired by the rhythms of steam power, while family games, deckchairs and pop-up food stalls bring a festival atmosphere to the museum grounds.

Inside, the museum’s free galleries remain open throughout the holidays, including the Experiment science playground, Revolution Manchester and the mighty machinery of the Textiles Gallery. Visitors can also blast off across the universe in Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos, the immersive space-themed blockbuster exhibition, while Power Up returns with more than fifty years of playable gaming history across countless consoles and iconic titles.

Liverpool Rd, Manchester M3 4JP

Manchester city centre bursts into bloom once again this bank holiday weekend as the Manchester Flower Festival returns with floral trails, outdoor dining, workshops and family activities spread across town.

Visitors can explore large-scale botanical displays, wander through vibrant ginnel gardens, and browse flower stalls and makers markets around St Ann’s Square and King Street, while a packed programme of talks, tours and creative workshops runs throughout the weekend.

The UK’s hugely popular family rave returns to Freight Island this bank holiday Monday with a high-energy afternoon of dance music, performers and confetti-filled chaos.

Expect DJs, dancers, lasers, giant balloons, face painting and club classics spanning house, garage and drum and bass, all reworked into a child-friendly daytime party suitable for every age.

Make sure to book in advance, as there are no tickets on the door.

Go behind the scenes at SEA LIFE Manchester this half term with the aquarium’s Beyond The Surface experience, offering families the chance to explore working areas usually closed to the public.

Led by expert team members, the 25-minute tour visits the food preparation kitchen, laboratory and quarantine spaces while uncovering how the aquarium cares for its marine life, from feeding routines to conservation projects and breeding programmes. The experience costs £20 per session for up to eight people and must be booked alongside standard admission.

Featuring over fifty interactive exhibits including optical illusions, head-scratching holograms, gravity-flipping rooms and even trippy recreations of Mancunian landmarks, Market Street’s Museum of Illusions promises the perfect half-term afternoon activity for families with hours of scientific entertainment and wildly imaginative creations.

Children under 4 can enjoy the museum for free, but booking is required.

Grab your tickets below.

Newly opened at Manchester Museum, Human Natures is a major new exhibition exploring humanity’s complicated relationship with the natural world through immersive installations, striking artworks and thought-provoking environmental storytelling.

Structured as a journey through warehouses, forests and waste dumps, the exhibition examines everything from fast fashion and overconsumption to agriculture and ecological collapse, while spotlighting local projects working towards more sustainable futures. Highlights include a large-scale textile installation from the Cottonopolis Collective and the story of Emily Williamson, whose campaign against the Victorian plumage trade led to the founding of the RSPB.

This half term, Jodrell Bank launches Curious Universe, a brand-new programme of cosmic activities, immersive dome shows and interactive experiences designed for young explorers.

Families can embark on the Mission: Explore! trail across Jodrell’s countryside grounds, get hands-on with quantum-themed activities in Mission: Create! and climb through new constellation-inspired playgrounds in Mission: Play!, while the Space Dome screens new adventures including Niyah and the Multiverse and Supermassive Black Holes: Uncovering the Invisible. Visitors can also discover the breathtaking new Cosmic Titans exhibition, which explores the extreme edges of our universe through spectacular sculptures and large-scale scientific storytelling.

Ahead of the World Cup, football fever reaches fever pitch with a half-term programme celebrating trophies, tournaments and legendary moments from across the beautiful game at the National Football Museum.

Families can get hands-on with famous silverware in Trophies Up Close, build their own finger footballers in Knuckle-Ball and tackle challenges including Sub Soccer and the museum’s interactive Play Gallery games. Elsewhere, the new Head, Shoulders, Knees & Goals exhibition explores football and movement through sensory play and interactive displays, while the Yard Ball arena and Premier League VR experience offer even more ways to step into the action.

Running throughout the year, Lowry’s ongoing immersive art installation invites visitors to step into the world of the iconic artist’s most famous painting, as the sights and sounds behind Going to the Match are brought to life in 360 degrees with the viewer at the centre.

From factory whistles to the giddy chatter of an expectant crowd, visitors are surrounded by a super high-res creative exploration of a painting that captures the thrumming anticipation, relatable rituals and timeless excitement of heading to a football match on a Saturday afternoon.

For more information, or to book tickets, click the button below.

Returning for its sixth year, Mews Fest takes over Deansgate Mews this bank holiday weekend with three days of free live music, independent markets and creative pop-ups.

More than forty acts will perform across venues including The Lion’s Den, The Mews Bar and Low Four Studios, while the brand-new Mews Fest Fringe expands the event into a wider celebration of Manchester’s independent creative scene with stalls, art and community showcases hosted inside Great Northern Warehouse.

Check out our full overview HERE.

Over at RHS Bridgewater, games, circus skills and outdoor adventures take over the idyllic suburban oasis this half term as The Great Garden Game-a-thon returns for another week of family-friendly competition.

Highlights include giant garden games, a winding meadow maze and circus workshops featuring juggling, hula hooping and plate spinning, alongside family board game sessions and energetic outdoor team challenges led by Forest School instructors. Guests can also journey through The Wind in the Willows: A Garden Adventure, the immersive trail inspired by the beloved children’s classic.

Spies, Lies and Deception is a free, family-friendly exhibition at IWM North that delves into the cloak-and-dagger world of deception and espionage from the First World War through to the present day.

Explore how audacious plots of deception have changed the course of conflict and the lives of those involved. The exhibition will cover the role of covert operations, how plots uncovered and the costs of being both the deceiver and the deceived.

Arriving at Lowry with a dose of family-friendly magic this summer, the Olivier-nominated smash-hit production Bluey’s Big Play brings the beloved blue heeler to life with an original story told through delightful puppetry, iconic sets from the BAFTA-winning TV show and a voice cast featuring the original, unmistakable voices from the TV show including Dave McCormack (Bandit) and Melanie Zanetti (Chilli).

Back by popular demand for a ten-day run in Salford having already entertained over a million fans around the world, Bluey’s Big Play invites families to experience a magical adaptation of the world-famous CBeebies series, as Bluey and Bingo pull out all their mischievous tricks and fun-filled games to get Dad off his bean bag in a fabulously entertaining Heeler family caper.