What's on

We Built This City: Retro Silent Disco Returns!

Performance Space

You don't need Romeo and Juliet in your life to enjoy our silent disco crazy crazy nights! Just grab your handbags and gladrags and discover a reason to believe. Whether you are an owner of a lonely heart searching for the power of love or a piano man desperate to fly away on a runaway […]

£5

QUEER CONTACT ’18: Drag Queen Storytime

Storytime doesn’t get more glamorous than this! Manchester Libraries are proud to be working with Queer Contact and The Family Gorgeous to present their first Drag Queen Storytime at Central Library. Drag Queen Storytime is exactly what it sounds like, drag queens reading stories to children in libraries. The aim is to capture the freedom […]

Sunday Funday: Celebrate Chinese New Year

St. Peter's Square, Manchester, United Kingdom

Join us for a celebration of Chinese arts, crafts and culture on one of our exclusive Sunday openings.

free

The Section 28 March – 30 Years On

Performance Space

Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Manchester March against Section 28 - still the largest LGBT march in this country. Join us to hear how this event was organised and who spoke and performed at the rally and the concert that followed. See some of the archive items and film footage from the event. The […]

The Drag Ball: Exposing Manchester’s Hidden Past

Performance Space

In September 1880, Detective Jerome Caminada and his Manchester police force raided the Temperance Hall in Hulme. Once inside, they found 47 men and half of them were in women's clothing. It was an event that shocked both city and country but who were these men and what became of them? Join us for this free […]

World Book Day Celebration Afternoon

A very special afternoon of reading loveliness at Central Library. We will be sharing stories, making crafts, and discovering digital fun using our favourite books to celebrate World Book Day 2018. Free – please drop in

Inside View: Original and Creative Work by Learners at HMP Manchester

First Floor Display Cases

An exhibition of creative work produced by learners attending NOVUS Education classes at HMP Manchester. This joint collaboration between Manchester Central Library and NOVUS Education showcases the excellent standard of creative work produced using a limited range of resources. Free – please drop in

Votes for Women

Performance Space

In the centenary year commemorating (some) UK women first gaining the vote, learn how Manchester played a major role in the fight. This entertaining and informative illustrated talk covers the campaign tactics of both peaceful suffragists and militant suffragettes, and the often barbaric backlash they endured. Free talk – please drop in

Both Sides Now: Open Space

Performance Space

Brighter Sound and The Hub UK present Both Sides Now – Open Space: Making gender equality in the music industry a reality… what can we all do? Both Sides Now is a large-scale initiative taking place across the North of England to support emerging female artists and up-and-coming industry professionals to transform the future of the music industry. We […]

The Peterloo Massacre: a talk by Dr Robert Poole

Manchester Libraries are pleased to welcome Dr Robert Poole for a fascinating talk on the Peterloo Massacre as part of the BBC Civilisations Festival. One of the major interests of Dr Robert Poole is popular protest in the age of reform and industrial revolution 1780s-1850s. He is a leading authority on the subject of Peterloo, […]

Frankenstein: An Immersive Experience

https://youtu.be/Mm8cEEwcS_M   Join us for a unique immersive experience based on the story of Frankenstein. Rediscover this iconic novel through the voices of Mary Shelley's haunting characters as you journey through the library's hidden corners. With a soundscape created by award winning musician, Taz Modi, venture from room to room and from memory to memory […]

£7

Patrisse Khan-Cullors in conversation about #BlackLivesMatter

Manchester Literature Festival is delighted to welcome Patrisse Khan-Cullors to Manchester to discuss her illuminating memoir, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. She will be in conversation with Manchester Literature Festival Patron, writer and poet Jackie Kay. One of the most prominent activists of her generation, Patrisse is an artist, organizer and […]

£8