Last year’s Manchester Film Festival featured a stellar line-up and previews of some of the best films of 2024. We’re waiting for 2025 line-up news with bated breath, but early bird passes are on sale now.

Following the release of their 12th album, Come Ahead, the iconic Primal Scream perform in the Warehouse space at Aviva Studios.

A supercalifragilisticexpialidocious family treat awaits as the world’s most loved nanny flies over to Manchester in April 2025.

The Hepworth Wakefield’s retrospective of artist Helen Chadwick’s work showcases a range of her sculptures, installations and photographs, charting her career and enduring contribution to contemporary art.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief brings Shakespeare’s great tragedy and Radiohead’s seminal album together in an intoxicating blend of theatre, music, and movement.

Jazz lovers rejoice – manchester jazz festival is back with a bumper edition in 2025, as the festival celebrates its 30th anniversary festival.

Don’t miss James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning, big-hearted, ‘pitch-perfect’ celebration of football when it comes to Salford.

Liverpool Biennial in 2025 is back for its 13th edition with 30 artists and collectives presenting work around the leading theme of ‘bedrock’.

Manchester will once again become the world’s stage this summer, with Manchester International Festival filling venues and spaces across the city with some of the world’s most exciting creative talent.

An explosive new dance production heads to The Lowry, bringing a whole new dimension to The Who’s iconic rock album.

Throughout 2025, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is celebrating its tenth anniversary, having first opened to the public a decade ago. From a close brush with dereliction to being awarded official accredited museum status in August 2024, it’s been an important decade in the almost 200-year history of the building, once home to North and South author Elizabeth Gaskell.

Manchester’s foremost genre film festival continues to champion the best new horror cinema from around the world. Early ticket packages are on sale now but won’t last long.

Looking towards the end of 2025, we can’t wait to step through the magic wardrobe and into the snowy, wintry world of Narnia, where an incredible adventure awaits! 

To celebrate this year’s Record Store Day, ten writers have teamed up with musicians for Sleeve Notes, a unique collaborative performance response creating new writing and music. Save the date – 12 April.

Lancaster Literature Festival, or Litfest to its friends, is rolling out its 46th programme, having brought events to its audiences since 1978. For 2025, the main festival runs 7 to 17 March.