To do & see – Quays Life

Greater Manchester To do & see

Queer Contact returns with a line-up showcasing the diversity of queer creativity

Holly Critchley

Manchester’s Queer Contact Festival returns with 10 days of performance, art and community, championing under-represented voices and embracing the breadth of LGBTQ+ talent. “The whole festival is really quite joyful,” says Contact CEO Jack Dale...

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People To do & see

Joss Arnott on new show Meet the Hatter and celebrating the superpower of difference

Anastasia Tirca

Joss Arnott Dance celebrates its 15th anniversary with an ambitious new show, ‘Meet the Hatter’, which has been two years in the making. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s iconic character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the...

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Hidden by Motionhouse. Image by Dan Tucker

Salford Quays To do & see

Dance-circus company Motionhouse explores shared humanity in new show Hidden

Diane Parkes

Dance-circus company Motionhouse’s latest show Hidden has been wowing audiences in the UK and Europe – and this January it comes to The Lowry in Salford. The show, which brings together agility, acrobatics, dance, digital projection and a...

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People Salford Quays To do & see

‘If Tarantino was to write a play, this would be it’ – Jason Durr

Carmel Thomason

Actor Jason Durr talks to Quays Life about his role in Murder at Midnight, a brand-new comedy thriller from Torben Betts, writer of smash-hit Murder in the Dark. Could you introduce us to Murder at Midnight? Jason: “It’s a brand new comedy...

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Further Afield To do & see

Happy Mondays join line-up as The Brit Fest turns three

Alex Price

Brothers and business partners, Anthony and Edward Prophet have been involved in many projects together over the years. But back in 2024 when Brit Fest first launched, the pair could never have imagined how their ‘crazy little idea’...

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Hope is the thing with feathers (concept design) Illuminos

Salford Quays To do & see

Free light festival shines hopeful optimism across Media City

Isabelle Fallows

Free light festival, Lightwaves returns for a 12th year, lighting up the nights of Salford Quays and Media City with 12 new spectacular light art installations focused on themes of optimism, positivity and togetherness. This year there are even more...

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Art People To do & see

Climate change, AI and finding hope in artistic activism

Leslie James Kerwin

AI meets nature in a new interdisciplinary exhibition at Lowry from January which sees artists, John-Paul Brown and Sophy King, look beyond climate grief into a future of possibilities. It is 2076 – the climate crisis is fading, the Earth is...

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Matthew Bourne's production of THE RED SHOES. Glenn Graham (Grischa Ljubov) and Ashley Shaw (Victoria Page). Photo by Johan Persson

People To do & see

Sir Matthew Bourne on the challenges of bringing The Red Shoes to the stage

Carmel Thomason

Double Olivier award-winning ballet The Red Shoes returns to Lowry, Salford on its 10th anniversary tour, which includes 11 of the original cast. The fairytale show, which tells of one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world, is...

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People To do & see

How PhD research is influencing Contact’s festive panto

Thomas Corner

After a two year break, pantomime is back at Contact, Manchester with a fun-packed production of Rumpelstiltskin from The Big Tiny Company that is reinventing the genre. The Big Tiny’s unique approach to pantomime is guided by co-director Ben...

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Centre Rebecca Lock as Caz, Chris Grahamson as Gareth & the cast in HERE & NOW, credit Pamela Raith

Greater Manchester People To do & see

Behind the scenes with the cast of Here & Now the new Steps’ Musical

Carmel Thomason

Returning to the Here & Now musical for the UK and Ireland tour, Rebecca Lock promises that audiences are in for a theatrical treat. “They can expect a rollercoaster of emotion,” she says, “and it’s so joyful, colourful...

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