Manchester is well and truly on the map for arts and culture.
Welcome to the next in the series #MoreOfManchester - in which we are trying to entice you to join our 6-9th June #EuroMeetUp. In this post, we will tell you how Manchester is on the map for culture and the arts - with an impact all over the world, and impact that the world has had on us. For more information on the MeetUp check our original announcement post here, you can find the confirmation post here and sign up if you can, and the most recent update post, with the most up to date information is here.
Please note that this is an in-person meet-up and currently we do not have any plans for a virtual session.
Manchester is a truly vibrant city, with a wealth of culture, historical and modern, ranging from classical art and music through food, sport, and literature, to innovative modern music, theatre and film and television production.
Wherever you go in the world, mention that you’re from Manchester, and the reply is most frequently Manchester United (or occasionally Manchester City). It is undeniable that these two football clubs, both of which started as clubs for industrial workers’ downtime, dominate the scene - with huge stadia in the city, merchandising outlets, and big influence. But there are many smaller clubs around the city.
The world’s first professional football league was founded in Manchester in 1888, at the Royal Hotel. With the naissance of organised football being in this city, the national football museum relates the story of football from its roots to present day.
Visits to the two stadia (Old Trafford for United and the Ethiad Stadium for City) can be enhanced with a stadium tour, and a visit to the respective club museums.
But football aside, the city has a plethora of sports opportunities from the annual Manchester Marathon, local swimming pools, The National Squash Centre (location), The National Cycling Centre (location), the internationally famous Old Trafford Cricket Ground (location), and the Chill Factore (location), with the UK’s longest indoor ski run, and the complete range of winter sports, and local teams encouraging participation at almost every corner, in almost every sport you could name,
Manchester boasts an impressive array of classical art venues, including the renowned Manchester Art Gallery. Situated in the heart of the city (location) this gallery houses an extensive collection of artworks spanning centuries, from traditional oil paintings to contemporary sculptures.
Whilst technically in Salford (Manchester’s lesser well known conjoined twin city) the Lowry Centre (location) retells the story and exhibits the works of perhaps the area’s best known artist, LS Lowry, with his somewhat naive depictions of life in industrial Salford and Manchester in the early to middle 20th century.
For lovers of modern art, the Whitworth Art Gallery (location) is a must-visit destination. Located within the University of Manchester campus, this gallery showcases contemporary artworks from both established and emerging artists. Its ever-changing exhibitions ensure there’s always something new and exciting to discover, making it a hub for artistic exploration in the city. There’s also a magnificent collection of fabrics and ceramics.
Not interested in static gallery art? Take a stroll around Manchester’s Northern Quarter and admire the range of wall art by a significant number of talented individuals - some authorised and some less so!
Manchester’s renowned orchestra, The Halle, is one of the UK’s foremost symphony orchestras. Founded in 1857, with its home in The Free Trade Hall, it was responsible for premiers of such composers as Elgar, and recordings of the works of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Its prestige was even further enhanced in the 25 years after World War 2 when Sir John Barbirolli took over as its principle conductor. It has in the last three decades taken up residence in The Bridgewater Hall, (location) and continues to represent Manchester’s culture at home and across the world.
The Free Trade Hall (now defunct and just a frontage) also saw many more contemporary music events from across the genres, including the fulcrum moment when Bob Dylan transitioned from acoustic folk to electric instruments - with the infamous heckle “Judas” coming from the audience.
From Dylan Days, through the swinging 1960s to the vibrant present day, Manchester has been a powerhouse in shaping the landscape of contemporary popular music. Iconic Manchester bands like The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits, laid the groundwork for Manchester’s reputation as a breeding ground for talent. Manchester’s legendary music scene, particularly the work of Tony Wilson and Factory Records, in the late 1970s and early 1980s truly catapulted the city into the global spotlight. Bands like Joy Division, The Smiths, and The Stone Roses pioneered the post-punk and indie movements, with their raw energy and introspective lyrics capturing the hearts of audiences worldwide.
As the 1990s dawned, Manchester experienced a cultural renaissance with the explosion of the Madchester scene. Fueled by bands like The Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets along with the legendary Hacienda nightclub (no longer in existence and replaced with apartments), the city became synonymous with the acid house and rave culture that swept across the UK. This era not only defined Manchester’s musical identity but also influenced the trajectory of electronic dance music for years to come.
Fast forward to the present day, and Manchester continues to thrive as a hotbed of musical innovation and creativity. Artists like The 1975, and Oasis, have kept the city’s legacy alive, pushing boundaries and redefining genres. Meanwhile, the city’s vibrant underground scene continues to incubate new talent, ensuring that Manchester remains a musical force to be reckoned with.
Alongside the native music scene, the city boasts some state of the art stadium sized venues, such as The AO Arena, (outside London, the biggest arena in the country with a huge range of productions on a regular basis) and The Co-op Live Arena, and many more intimate venues for both classical and contemporary music, where we host gigs by internationally famous bands and artists.
Manchester boasts at least four long established public libraries housing manuscripts and books from way back in history. The ancient Chetham’s Library (the oldest public library in the English speaking world) (location), the splendid neo-Gothic John Rylands Library (location) with historic texts, the lesser known Portico Library (location) with books and newspapers spanning over 450 years, and the always buzzing Central Library accessed from St Peter’s Square (location), which continues to quench the thirst for knowledge of Mancunians and visitors on a daily basis.
Throughout the years, Manchester has been home to many influential authors who have left a significant mark on the world of literature. From Elizabeth Gaskell, whose novels vividly depicted the social and economic realities of Victorian England, to Anthony Burgess, whose dystopian masterpiece “A Clockwork Orange” challenged conventional morality and free will. The city’s literary legacy also includes luminaries such as Carol Ann Duffy, the first female Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, whose evocative poetry explores themes of love, loss, and identity with exquisite lyricism.
Today, Manchester continues to be a source of inspiration for writers exploring a wide range of themes and genres. Authors like Jeanette Winterson, known for her groundbreaking novel “Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit,” and Benjamin Zephaniah, whose poetry captures the rhythms of urban life with raw honesty and wit, testify to the city’s spirit of innovation and diversity.
Today, Manchester is thronging with excellent restaurants and food establishments representing food at every culinary level and from across the world - too many to explore really, although it’s well worth taking a trip down The Curry Mile - a section of Oxford Road in Manchester in the university area, where there are food outlets from virtually every world region…
But Manchester also has a not-so-exotic culinary heritage rooted in industrial poverty and basic staples. It’s hard to find these “delights” on the menus of many restaurants today, but they’re still current in the homes and houses of locals: Lancashire HotPot, Black Peas, Manchester Tart, Eccles Cakes and Black Puddings.
Manchester also has a thriving theatre life - with one of the biggest Off-West-End availability in the UK. The major theatres, The Palace Theatre (location) The Opera House ,(location) The Royal Exchange (theatre in the round) (location)- and, again, The Lowry (location) all of which have some of the biggest and mainstream productions - and Home (location) - which has more arty/niche productions - are all immediately within the city centre, and some of the outlying towns in Greater Manchester also have excellent theatres. This website has an excellent guide to what’s on around the city.
Also around the city, notably but not exclusively at The Printworks (location) and Great Northern (location) are mainstream cinemas showing a whole range of up-to-date films, while, again, Home (location) shows a more arthouse and foreign films.
The #MoreOfManchester series:
This series is to help promote Manchester as the host city for #EuroMeetup2024. In it you will find lots of information about Manchester and our personal recommendation of places to visit! We hope that you will enjoy this series and do stay tuned for more posts leading up to June when the event begins!
dear friend 