Find what's on in Manchester this week, from gigs and comedy to workshops, markets, and local events.

What's On in Manchester | Things To Do | TownSpot

The Market Co brings its artisan market to Golden Hill Car Park, with independent makers, food and gifts in Urmston town centre.

Urmston Artisan Market

Golden Hill Car Park, Park Road North, Urmston, Greater Manchester M41 5RA

If you’ve always wanted to paint with watercolours but have never been quite sure where to start, this is the perfect opportunity. Groups are small with no more than 4 people. I provide all materials and reference. £85. More info: https://www.craftanddesign.com/workshops/watercolour-painting/

Mike Gyi

Watercolour Workshop for Beginners

Manchester Craft and Design Centre, 17 Oak St, Manchester M4 5JD, UK

A Cantonese-language dialogue session exploring migration through lived experience, presented with Readfirst Bookshop. The programme focuses on martial arts, body awareness and internal strength through opening stories, small-group conversations and collective reflection.

The Plural World of Migrants

Manchester Museum, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

A weekly introduction to Buddhism and meditation at Manchester Buddhist Centre. We cover different aspects of Buddhism and meditation teaching. Just turn up, no need to book.

Candradipa

Tools for Living Your Life

Manchester Buddhist Centre, 16-20 Turner St, Manchester M4 1DZ, UK

Finnish alternative-metal trio Stoned Statues headline a two-room all-dayer across Aatma and The Peer Hat. The expanded bill includes Sigils, VLKA, Earthbound, Mines, Deme Rara, Dr Savage, Tales of Time, Square Wild, Heroes of the Gauntlet, Crescent Halo, Demerara, Vassal, Bad Penny, Babsovet, House Of Dirt, Dystopian Sun, Unharvested and Seenosaira.

Stoned Statues All-Dayer at Aatma + Peer Hat

Aatma, 1st Floor, 14-16 Faraday St, Manchester M1 1BE, UK

Craft & Chat with us! Bring along a project that you’re working on, chat with others and share your creativity. A queer-friendly and inclusive safe space. More info: https://www.craftanddesign.com/news/craft-chat-club/

Craft & Chat Club

A free family afternoon for the Mid-Autumn Festival, with mooncake-seal carving, dizi bamboo-flute performances, participatory music and lantern-making led by Manchester Confucius Institute and Chinese Music Classroom.

Fun Palaces: Mid-Autumn Festival

Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester M2 5PD, UK

Manchester’s dance and poetry slam returns for Black History Month, with guest performances from Sophia Thakur and Olivia Beckford, music from DJ Renegade and hosting by Reece Williams.

Breathe: Dance & Poetry Slam 2026

Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ

Cuba Vida bring an early-evening live salsa set to Matt & Phreds, built for listening and dancing.

Cuba Vida Salsa Band

Matt & Phreds Jazz Club, 64 Tib St, Manchester M4 1LW, UK

Manchester Camerata musicians, spoken-word artists and a DJ transform the Common Frequency exhibition in the North Warehouse, exploring music as a force for change.

Common Frequency - Live Performance

Mystery Ensemble performs all four concertos of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in a 75-minute programme, including a 15-minute interval. Suitable for ages 6+.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Mystery Ensemble

The Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester M3 1DA

Susan Calman returns to touring with a new stand-up show about cruising, driving tanks, cats, getting older and the improbable situations of the past decade.

Susan Calman: Tall Tales

A informal group led by young people open to anyone aged 18 - 30. We meet every month on the first Monday and explore different aspects of Buddhism and meditation. Everybody is welcome to come, Buddhist or not, and there's no need to book.

Young Buddhists (18-30)

Poet, performer and cultural activist SuAndi OBE launches the annual Sarah Parker Remond Lecture with a work that is part performance and part public address. It honours Global Majority women whose creativity, leadership, activism, care and resistance have shaped Manchester, alongside the 81st anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress and the bicentenary of Remond's birth. Doors open at 18:30.

Sarah's Sistahs by SuAndi OBE

Grosvenor East theatre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BR, UK

Matt & Phreds’ resident blues band, fronted by Franny Eubank, hosts an open jam for musicians and singers of any level. Join the band or listen to an evening rooted in John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Etta James, Little Walter and Aretha Franklin.

Blues Jam

A welcoming discussion group sharing stories, poems and non-fiction aloud. Listen, chat and make your own connections; there is no pressure to read and no prior reading experience is needed.

Shared Reading

A live-electronic jam inspired by artists such as Floating Points, Maribou State and Thom Yorke. Guest and house musicians play at 8pm before an open jam from 9-11pm, deconstructing digital sounds in real time.

The Hybrid Sessions

An informal, consistently lit lunchtime performance by young musicians from Chetham’s School of Music, with flexible entry and re-entry and adapted seating close to the performers.

Chetham’s Relaxed Lunchtime Concert

A relaxed drop-in workshop combining an Autumn Equinox poster craft with traditional Chinese seasonal practice. Senior tai chi qigong teacher Feixia Yu demonstrates autumn movements from 5.30-7pm; craft materials are supplied throughout.

Wellbeing Wednesdays: Autumn Equinox

A social evening exploring the South Asian roots of familiar games including Ludo, Snakes and Ladders and Carrom. Hands-on play and light-touch interpretation trace their links to Pachisi and Moksha Patam.

Made in South Asia Games Night

An evening conference bringing Manchester’s Black business community together for talks, shared experience, practical insight and networking during Black History Month.

Manchester Black Business Conference

Campfield Market, Campfield House, Liverpool Road, Manchester M3 4FP

Grimmfest opens with six horror and genre screenings: 14:00 Dracula; 16:00 Shorts Programme One; 18:00 The Fog with Adrienne Barbeau Q&A; 20:30 Evil Dress; 22:25 Never After Dark; and 22:30 Under Your Feet on the second screen. The festival also brings premieres, Q&As, signings and market stalls to ODEON Great Northern.

Grimmfest 2026 - Thursday programme

ODEON Manchester Great Northern, Unit 2, The Great Northern, 253 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN, UK

Gemma Cairney’s literary work becomes an ensemble performance blending sound, opera, movement, live cello, violin and poetry to honour remarkable women and explore grief. Performance 8.30-9.45pm, followed by DJ Sippin’ T to 10.45pm.

The Immortal Sisterhood LIVE

Friday's Grimmfest programme runs 10:30 Grind; 12:40 Motherwitch; 15:10 Reversion; 17:50 Oddities; 20:20 Ithaqua; and two 22:45 screenings, Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon and Sicko on the second screen. The official festival programme combines premieres with guest activity and its festival hub.

Grimmfest 2026 - Friday programme

A Black History Month gathering at Central Library sharing how enterprise can honour, strengthen and serve communities, with stories and conversation from Black business voices.

Black Business Stories: Honouring Our Communities Through Enterprise

Ahmed Masoud’s black comedy imagines two young IT workers in Gaza jokingly hacking the bid for the 2048 Olympics - and winning. Rooted in lived testimony, the 70-minute play turns occupation, bureaucracy and reconstruction into a sharply satirical vision of hope.

Application 39

Maggie O’Farrell discusses Land, her multi-generational novel set in Ireland in 1865. A mapmaker and his son discover an uncharted woodland, opening a story about buried history, landscape, longing and survival. Hosted by Alex Clark.

Qué Hacer en Manchester

🛍️ Urmston Artisan Market

🎨 Watercolour Workshop for Beginners

💬 The Plural World of Migrants

🧘‍♂️ Tools for Living Your Life

🗿 Stoned Statues All-Dayer at Aatma + Peer Hat

🧶 Craft & Chat Club

🏮 Fun Palaces: Mid-Autumn Festival

🔥 Breathe: Dance & Poetry Slam 2026

💃 Cuba Vida Salsa Band

🎻 Common Frequency - Live Performance

🎻 Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Mystery Ensemble

😂 Susan Calman: Tall Tales

🙏 Young Buddhists (18-30)

🎙️ Sarah's Sistahs by SuAndi OBE

🎸 Blues Jam

📖 Shared Reading

🎛️ The Hybrid Sessions

🎶 Chetham’s Relaxed Lunchtime Concert

🍂 Wellbeing Wednesdays: Autumn Equinox

🎲 Made in South Asia Games Night

💼 Manchester Black Business Conference

🧛 Grimmfest 2026 - Thursday programme

✨ The Immortal Sisterhood LIVE

🎬 Grimmfest 2026 - Friday programme

💬 Black Business Stories: Honouring Our Communities Through Enterprise

🎭 Application 39

📚 Maggie O’Farrell

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