What's on

Stephen Lawrence Day – 30 Years On

"Stephen Lawrence’s legacy is one of promoting tolerance, understanding and peace between all" We will celebrate Stephen's life by focusing on friendship, kindness and positivity. Children and families are invited to join us to create a beautiful collage of "Friendship" in honour of Stephen's life. Resources from The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust will be on display which […]

The Amazing Watkins; Manchester’s Forgotten Stars

Performance Space

Join us for this illustrated public lecture, by Geoff Scargill of The Watkin Society. Absalom and Edward Watkin – father and son – were key figures in the development of Manchester in the 19th century. Absalom helped draw up the petition that brought the horror of the Peterloo Massacre to public attention. Although he was […]

Word Central with special guest Louise Fazackerley 

Performance Space

Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word hosted by Tony Curry  Presented by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press  With special guest Louise Fazackerley   Book your open mic slot from noon on Tues 11th April via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk  With work rooted in word-witchery and the working class, April’s guest Louise Fazackerley explores the synergy between poetry and […]

Big Fat Music Library Quiz; Eurovision Special!

Henry Watson Music Library

Geopolitical alliances at the ready! This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be held just a stone's throw from Manchester in lovely Liverpool. To celebrate this once is a lifetime (well 25 years anyway) event, we're hosting a special edition of our Big Fat Music Library quiz on Thursday 27th April. So if you think you […]

Crime Central April 2023

Performance Space

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis.They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee. All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances. Signed books will be available to purchase after the […]

£2 – £8

The Year of Polish-British Cooperation on Breaking the Enigma Code

Lower Ground Floor Link

This exhibition celebrates the Polish-British cooperation in breaking the Enigma code, marking the 80th anniversary of Polish codebreakers coming to the UK.  The Enigma code was a nightmare for secret services all over the world.  It was an unbreakable code granting Germany a tremendous military advantage. 'Enigma' means puzzle or secret in Greek. This is […]

Photographing the Invisible with Jill Furmanovsky & Jon Savage

Performance Space

Join Jill in this special talk with Professor Jon Savage from the British Pop Archive, talking archives, curating Photographing the Invisible and the difficulty of choosing what to leave out. Professor of Popular Culture at the University of Manchester, Jon Savage is is an award winning author and film writer. His books include England's Dreaming: […]

Angel Delight’s Eurovision Drag Party

Performance Space

The perfect party to make your Eurovision week go with a boom bang a bang! Join the dream diva, Angel Delight, for an evening of singalongs, card games, bongo bingo, music quizzes and lots of surprises, all with an added Eurovision sparkle! Doors open at 7.30pm. Bar will be open all evening. Over 18's only.

£5 – £24

A Lifetime in Music with producer Mark Cooper & Jill Furmanovsky

Performance Space

In celebration of her first retrospective at Manchester Central Library, music photographer Jill Furmanovsky is joined by long-term friend and former head of music at the BBC Mark Cooper comparing stories of their life in the music industry. Mark Cooper began his career as a music journalist in the pages of Record Mirror, Q and […]

£8

Silk Painting Workshop with Aysha Yilmaz

MAFCFEST presents a creative session with Aysha on silk painting! In this workshop, motifs and designs from The Silk Road ( Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkey etc) will be used to produce a Silk Painting. Aysha will demonstrate how to apply the design to the Silk fabric from a drawing, followed by techniques of filling in with […]

£5

Local Community History Month-Archives+ Workshop

Ground Floor

Learn how to use local maps, street directories, censuses and various other archives to identify a local person - Free - please drop in  Other Local Community History Month events include: 1921 Census talk by Leslie Turner (free) - Friday 26 May, 11am - Book your place here Handling session - Rates and Electoral Registers […]

Word Central with special guest Leon the Pig Farmer

Performance Space

Leon the Pig Farmer is a Manchester-based Yorkshire beat poet. An ex-serviceman who began writing verse to help him deal with a PTSD diagnosis, he has an assertive take on spoken word with fast firing rhythmic verse and a sharp outlook on both his mental health recovery, social observation and political imbalance. Leon has two […]