The Ritz

Creative Tourist
The Ritz Manchester live music venue

Opened as a dance hall in the roaring 20s, The Ritz has hosted everyone from hosted The Beatles to Frank Sinatra to The Smiths, and it’s still going as strong as ever. Notably, it retains its original sprung dancefloor from those early days, which makes for a truly exquisite excellent mosh.

You’ll find all manner of live gigs and club nights here, most in the main venue space which holds 1500. But there’s another, subterranean space, that most people aren’t even aware of, which is opened for special events like festivals. This holds 500.

Full disclosure, the sound can be a little hit and miss at The Ritz, and the drinks prices are criminal (honestly, £7.75 for a single?), but the venue itself has a lot more soul than many of its O2-owned counterparts (perhaps with the exception of The Apollo), and its listings are absolutely on point.

Whitworth Street WestManchesterM1 5NQ View map
Telephone: 0161 714 4140 Visit Now

Admission Charges

Prices vary

What's on near The Ritz

The House Party at HOME
TheatreManchester
The House Party at HOME

Headlong and Frantic Assembly join forces for this contemporary and explosive reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. It comes to Manchester this March and you’re all invited.

from £20.00
Poet Imtiaz Dharker. Photo by Ayesha Dharker
LiteratureManchester
Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words and music, presenting poets established and emerging, with the latest readers Imtiaz Dharker, Ella Frears and Martin Zarrop.

free entry

Where to go near The Ritz

Rain Bar pub in Manchester
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Rain Bar

This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

City Centre
Bar or Pub
Peveril Of The Peak

Iconic Manchester pub adorned with the sorts of bottle green, yellow and brown Victorian tiles that are a reclamation yard’s dream – this gem of a boozer is named after Sir Walter Scott’s novel of the same name and was a favourite hang-out of Eric Cantona.

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally patriotic name The Ancient Britain.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Burgess Cafe Bar
at IABF

Small but perfectly-formed café – which also serves as the in-house bookstore, stocking all manner of Burgess-related works, along with recordings of his music. It’s a welcoming space, with huge glass windows making for a bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Manchester
Restaurant
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester

Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

City Centre
Bar or Pub
The Temple

Originally called The Temple of Convenience owing to its former life as a public toilet block, this is a tiny bar with some of the finest bathroom graffiti in town.

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