A small craft studio located inside Manchester Craft & Design Centre, &made sells a range of handmade gifts and goodies, including some very distinctive knitted cacti – honestly, you’ll love them (not least when you find out that their maker, Andrea Lord, was a former Chorlton & The Wheelies animator at Cosgrove Hall).
Every Monday night upstairs at Fierce Bar, The Comedy Vault hosts an outrageously funny open-mic night. Come and try your hand or just to watch and laugh.
free entry
Band on the Wall bring people together to make, as well as watch, music. Join them to learn folk tunes from all over the world.
Rock-informed, techno-adjacent musical collagists Moin perform at Band on the Wall this spring.
from £16.50
An insanely committed seven-nights-a-week, Creatures of the Night Comedy Club opens its doors (20.30-22.30 typically, though please check) for evening after evening of side-splitting comedy.
from £5.00
Try your hand at stand up comedy with an eight week intensive course with Dave Williams in the Frog and Bucket’s School of Comedy.
from £300.00
Beat the Frog is a legendary amateur comedy night, taking place each and every Monday. Many famous names prove it’s the real deal.
free entry
Dance a Céilí with Altogether Otherwise as part of their singing and dancing months in May and June.
free entry
Get hands on with the decks in this funk and soul superstar DJ workshop from BBC Radio 6’s Ailsa.
free entry
Housed in a former Victorian fish market, Manchester Craft and Design Centre has for 30 years been home to an array of artist-run studios.
Oak Street Café at Manchester Craft & Design Centre does fresh, healthy salads, soups, sandwiches, quiches and, best of all, cakes.
Boutique charity shop in the heart of the Northern Quarter.
Northern Quarter stalwart Common Bar in Manchester serves excellent pub food, fine cocktails and decent coffee. It’s a firm Creative Tourist team favourite.
Home Sweet Home in Manchester’s Northern Quarter is a cafe and milk bar that does a mean line in cake, puddings and all things sweet – but its savoury menu isn’t half bad either.
This small shop has a well-curated range of stock that focuses on vintage homeware and gifts. From Japanese hemp socks to botanical paperweights and HAWS plant misters, each object is beautiful, practical and well made.
Ziferblat is a pay as you stay café in the northern quarter, where everything is free – except the time you spend.
Gordon Ramsay-approved Northern Quarter restaurant run by three sisters, featuring some of the city’s finest Chinese cuisine.
Essentially three bars under one roof, Cane & Grain encompasses a rib joint and tap room, hidden speakeasy, and Tiki-themed Liar’s Lounge.
The sister store to NOTE’s original Tib Street branch, here you’ll find footware, clothes and brands inspired by the skateboard scene. If it’s a new board you’re after, head to Tib Street.
57 Thomas Street is the third outlet belonging to Manchester’s best-known microbrewery, Marble Beers. Unlike the lavish decoration of the Grade II-listed Marble Arch (which also doubles up as a brewery) or the traditional pub layout of the Marble Beer House in Chorlton, this tiny Thomas Street digs has room for just two things: beer and food.
Highly-rated bar based in Manchester’s bustling Northern Quarter, seconds away from Common.
Spring is here and the North is buzzing with must-visit new restaurants and bars.
Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.
We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.
The outsiders, the oddities and the outrageous – we’re keeping it weird with a hot new batch of underground gigs about to hit Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool.
Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.
Crocodile-themed Easter egg hunts, sense-sational museum trips and more this Easter!
From precarious ceramics to photography festivals, spring is here and brings with it a breath of fresh air in visual art and exhibitions.
If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.
