From taking a journey around the human body, to discovering the birth of computing, and more, there’s so much happening Science and Industry Museum this February half term.
If you’re looking for some science-filled fun and discovery when the schools are out in Greater Manchester from Saturday 12 to Sunday 27 February, then one of the city’s most-loved museums is giving you the chance to explore a whole host existing exhibitions and take part in some exiting experiments during the holidays.
Here’s everything you can be getting up to.
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Exhibitions
Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope
One of the most-popular exhibitions currently at the museum is the Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope, which the first “major object-rich exhibition” to reveal the past, present and future of how cancer is prevented, detected and treated.
Through never-before seen objects and stories, cutting edge treatment and research, reflection, new artist commissions and installations, film, photography, interactive exhibits and a breadth of personal stories, the museum says the exhibition will present the stories of people affected by cancer and those who study and treat it.
You can discover the fascinating science behind our bodies through activities especially created to mark this world-first exhibition, as the museum’s team of Explainers will be presenting activities that reveal some of the different ways we can see inside our bodies at ‘Science Stops’ across the museum every day.
There’ll be everything from microscopes and magnets, to high-tech cameras, and the chance to make a model cell badge to take away.
The charming final work of one of Britain’s best loved artists, sculptors, and famed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang creator, Rowland Emett, is now on display in Manchester for the first time in the museum’s Textiles Gallery until April.
Constructed in 1984, the unique moving sculpture named – which is named ‘A Quiet Afternoon in the Cloud Cuckoo Valley’ – was saved for the UK after being purchased for the Science Museum Group Collection with support from Art Fund, the Science Museum Foundation, the Friends of the National Railway Museum and private donors, and visitors are now able to see two scenes from the work of art telling the story of a journey aboard the imaginary ‘Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Railway,’ based on one of his cartoons.
A Quiet Afternoon in the Cloud Cuckoo Valley / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
The two scenes – Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Railway, featuring the ‘Wild Goose’ locomotive, and Oyster Creek – will come to life twice a day at 11.30am and 2pm to treat visitors to the “whirring of cogs and characters toasting teacakes and diving”, while also revealing what this whimsical sculpture has in common with the museum’s thundering textiles machinery.
During the Revolution Manchester Show, the museum’s expert Explainers put on an action-packed show that tells the story of how science met industry right here in Manchester, building our world and shaping our lives today.
You can discover Manchester’s role as a nerve centre of the Industrial Revolution, be amazed by the power of steam as you learn how it powered cotton factories and transport on the world’s first passenger and goods railway, and find out how Manchester continues to drive change, from computing to cutting edge scientific research.
The Textiles Gallery & Experiment / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
Experiment
Experiment is a favourite with families, and it’s where science is brought to life through a series of interactive exhibits – including staring into the mirror of infinity, finding out if you’ve got the strength to lift a Mini, and watching your own skeleton ride a bicycle.
In case you didn’t know, the Science and Industry Museum is currently going through a multi-million pound restoration programme, which means some areas including the Power Hall remain closed to the public – but don’t worry though, as there’s still plenty for families to do, see and enjoy during the holidays.
You can find out more about everything happening at the Science and Industry Museum this February half term, and grab tickets here.
Featured Image – Science and Industry Museum
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Hit theatre production set at a house party to visit Manchester on UK tour
Daisy Jackson
Alright then, 24 hour party people, we’ve found a theatre production you might like the sound of – it’s called The House Party, and it’s set in (you guessed it) a house party.
This smash hit production by pioneering theatre company Headlong is set to land at HOME in March as part of the arts venue’s 2025 theatre season.
It tells the tale of a wild 18th birthday party, where Christine is trying to pick up the pieces of her best friend, a newly-dumped Julie (who happens to be the birthday girl).
Themes of class, power and privilege are all explored with a raw intensity as the cast on stage plough through shots and dive head-first into a night that will change everything they know.
The House Party, which has received glowing reviews from previous showings, is filled with ‘privilege, desire and destruction’.
When it stops off in Manchester, its cast will include Bridgerton’s Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen (Miss Austen, Last Night in Soho) as Julie, and Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack, Patience) as Jon.
The ensemble of Frantic Assembly performers includes Ines Aresti, Oliver Baines, Cal Connor, Micah Corbin-Powell, Rachael Leonce, Jaheem Pinder and Jamie Randall.
The House Party is written by Laura Lomas and is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation.
It’s directed by Headlong’s artistic director Holly Race Roughan, who directed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere of David Edgar’s major new political play The New Real.
The House Party. Credit: Ikin YumThe production will be at HOME. Credit: Supplied
Movement direction will come from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
Prior to the UK tour of The House Party, Headlong celebrated its 50 year anniversary, including the hit production of A Raisin in the Sun which played nationwide.
The House Party will be at HOME in Manchester between 25 and 29 March, 2025 – you can get your tickets HERE.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff
Daisy Jackson
If you’re not a handy person, when something breaks, the temptation is often to abandon or bin it straight away.
But that’s just not how we’re gonna do it here in Greater Manchester any more, with the return of the annual Repair Week to help you learn valuable repair skills and save money at the same time.
Whether it’s tinkering with your bicycle, fixing up your small tech items, or having your furniture re-varnished and upcycled, there are so many places and people who are on a mission to help you fall back in love with your belongings.
There are even workshops to help you put flat-pack furniture together.
Taking place between 3 and 9 March, Repair Week will be the chance to learn skills, fix your stuff, gain repair confidence and find local fixers.
Events throughout the week (and beyond) will be hosted by community groups, businesses and plenty more.
You can sharpen knives, fix zips, and un-wobble chairs with a little hand from local repair heroes.
JillyGDesign Jewellery in Heaton Moor will fix up your sentimental and special jewellery items, while Rag Revival will help you turn unusable textiles into new creations with basic sewing skills.
There are repair cafes popping up all over Greater Manchester where you can take your belongings.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff. Credit: Supplied
Repair Week will highlight schemes like the Manchester Library of Things, where you can borrow the tools and equipment you need for those repair jobs at home.
During the week you’ll also be able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Renew Hub, the UK’s biggest reuse hub, where donated items are brought back to life.
Similarly, you’ll be able to get inside the textile recycling centre run by homelessness charity Emmaus Bolton, where you can choose your own fabric from the scrap store and turn it into a very handy draught excluder to keep costs down and your heat in.
Recycle for Greater Manchester’s Repair Week will take place between 3 and 9 March, with workshops, events and resources to help you revive your belongings.
Emily Sergeant -
4th February 2022 
