Make a beeline to the Bud & Pot Pop-up Shop on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March, 9.30am to 4pm, and pick up a special bouquet for your mum from the expert florists. And if you head down on Saturday, you can create your own bouquet with your mum. Undoubtedly thirsty work, stop on for bevs in the stylish surroundings of this Grade II-listed building.

Mother’s Day marks opening night for Benjamin Britten’s second operatic exploration of Henry James’s works, in a tale that feels as relevant in 2025 as it did five decades ago.

We nearly fell off our chairs when we heard Imtiaz Dharker was headlining Poets & Players the day before Mothering Sunday. Offered the Poet Laureate job and awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014, Imtiaz is poetry royalty, and a must-see for the special lady in your life. Two other esteemed talents join her, there’s music too, and it’s all free!

The Municipal Hotel MGallery is pulling out all the stops for Mother’s Day 2025, laying on afternoon tea in the Botanic Tea Room. Priced at £65 per person (£75 with champagne), this experience features welcome platters, sandwiches, and sweet treats, plus a backdrop of tasteful live music.

Spring is a glorious time to get thee to a shrubbery – RHS Garden Bridgewater is teaming with hellebores and cyclamens, spring bulbs and blossom. Don’t forget to grab a slice of cake in the quaint Garden Cottage Cafe overlooking the orchard and be sure to stock up your mum’s own borders at the garden centre. You can even get there on the bus now from Manchester and Wigan, and if you visit car-free, you save 30% on admission.

This landmark exhibition features over 90 artists and collectives whose work protests against inequality, shines a spotlight on aspects of women’s domestic and public lives, and showcases art that unequivocally contributed to the women’s liberation movement. It’s been to London and Edinburgh, and it’s free entry now it’s arrived on our doorstep!

We couldn’t bring you a Mother’s Day Guide without mentioning mother’s ruin, and The Spirit of Manchester Distillery is the place to sniff out for all things gin. With tours and tastings for the uninitiated to full-on 2.5-hour make-your-own gin workshops, you should find something to suit your mum’s palate.

Treat your mum to a trip to the glorious Victoria Baths – it might be slightly after Mother’s Day, but Welcome Tuesday gives you the chance to take in the amazing glazing (check out the Angel window) and even indulge in a delightful cream tea in the Tea Rooms. Whether you’re jam first or cream first, there’s no denying that a delicious fruit scone and a lovely pot of Rosie Lee are just what you need to lift your spirits.

Book your mum into one of the live talks beaming out of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House this year, or head there in person and find out all about the museum’s renovation and see the desk where the author wrote her famous novels. Spring is springing in the lovely garden, and on Mothering Sunday, the tearoom will be open.

Gift your mum a place on one of this spring’s Floating Art workshops, taking place in Manchester and Liverpool, and also at Tatton Park – these tickets include access to the gardens which includes the majestic Japanese Garden. Choose from Japanese painting, pen and watercolour and the Monet special.

Chef Patron Paul Askew and his team in Liverpool have curated a special spring-inspired luncheon especially for Mother’s Day, celebrating local produce like asparagus, wild garlic and new-season lamb, and there’s even a special kids’ menu for a fully family-friendly get-together.

This Victorian steel viaduct transformed into a ‘sky garden’ in the heart of Manchester is well worth a visit as the spring colours start to pop – and there’s no need to book; just rock up. You’re free to wander at your own pace, and on Sundays the green walk is open 10am to 5pm.

This university-run gallery showcases new contemporary creative practice in the city, currently Stella Baraklianou, presenting a new body of work that puts clay in the spotlight.

Photographer Antonia Peña explores the intrinsic connection between humans and the natural environment, and this show is all about women and nature (the ultimate mother!). Weekdays 9am to 6pm.

Ending the day before Mother’s Day, but worth a trip with the little-uns, Pig Heart Boy is an unmissable stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s award-winning novel.

For an elegant afternoon out, look no further than Head Chef Andrew Green’s Mothering Sunday menu at Municipal’s Seaforth Restaurant. You’ll be welcomed with an amuse-bouche and chef’s canapés, then pick from two or three courses, including starters of locally cured smoked salmon, mains such as roast sirloin or pan-seared seabass, and the legendary sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

This year, give your mum the gift of knowledge. Knowledge and wine. With the emphasis on wine. Kelly Bishop’s Manchester Wine Tours are fun-packed affairs, with plenty of great chat, amusing tales and, of course, great vino with equally-great people.

If Mum’s staying over (especially after all that wine and gin!), she could do worse than lay her head here. What’s more, from 28–31st March, the King Street Townhouse Hotel is running a series of luxury experiences to enjoy with your mum, from afternoon tea to spa relaxation and private movie screenings.

Find the finest places in Manchester to down Darjeeling (or a flute of fizz), nibble on dainty finger sandwiches and slap clotted cream on a freshly baked scone – no mum is going to say no to this afternoon out. Or, if she’s at the other end of the M62, check out our round-up of the best places for tea, cake and afternoon delights in Liverpool.

And for something refreshing, how about jumping in some cold water? Combine this very popular  Mother’s Day pampering pursuit with a spot of lunch and an all-round nice day out in Hebden Bridge…