Festivals
The Corridor is Manchester’s festival hub, hosting an exciting array of 54 festival days across 37 venues every year.
Celebrated events include Manchester Psych Fest, Literature Festival, Animation Festival, Punk Festival, Jazz Festival, Horizons Festival, Histories Festival, and more.
What’s on…
Manchester Film Festival
HOME Until 23 March 2025Manchester Film Festival, the city’s annual celebration of the best new and independent cinema, returns to HOME for its 2025 edition.
DVRS Games Festival 2025
School of Digital Arts (SODA) Until 11 April 2025The first international diverse games festival in person in Manchester Metropolitan’s School of Digital Arts.
Manchester International Festival 2025
Various Venues Until 20 July 2025Manchester International Festival returns, this year with many of the biggest commissions found at cultural spaces around Oxford Road. Here’s what’s happening here on the Corridor.
Salaam Festival
Contact Until 2 November 2025Salaam Festival invites artists and communities to preserve and produce original work to create a new vision and future for Islamic art and culture in Manchester and beyond.
Year’s End Festival 2025
Various Venues 6 December 2025Year’s End Festival returns to The Ritz with The Twang headlining and sets from The Small Fortunes, Pack of Animals, Lizzie Esau and more.
Manchester Punk Festival 2026
Various Venues Until 5 April 2026After a sell-out success in recent years, the ever-growing Manchester Punk Festival returns in Easter to venues across Oxford Road.
Manchester Histories Festival 2026
Manchester Central Library Until 6 June 2026Manchester Histories Festival takes place Thursday 4 –Saturday 6 June 2026, in and around Manchester Central Library.
Festival of Libraries
Manchester Central Library Until 14 June 2026Festival of Libraries celebrates the role that Greater Manchester’s 133 libraries play in wellbeing, culture, creativity and more.
Horizons Festival 2026
HOME Until 13 June 2026Join HOME and Community Arts North West for newly commissioned theatre, performance, visual art, film, community events, family-friendly workshops, and live music.
Universally Manchester Festival
The University of Manchester 13 June 2026Celebrate science, creativity and community at Universally Manchester Festival with hands-on fun, talks, music, street art and more.
SCENE Festival
Multiple venues Until 27 August 2026SCENE: Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film and TV Festival to returns this August with events at HOME, First Street and across the city.
Manchester Psych Fest 2026
Multiple venues 5 September 2026With the final lineup now revealed and a record number of tickets already sold, only a very limited number of tickets remain available.
Festival Povera
Big Hands Until 26 September 2026Festival Povera returns to Big Hands with three days of free, independent art, music, film and performance.
Auris Festival
Multiple venues Until 11 October 2026Contemporary sound art takes over three Manchester venues through immersive performances, spatial audio, installations, field recordings and soundwalks.
Part of The Cultural Welcome
Manchester Literature Festival 2026
Various Venues Until 25 October 2026Explore the full Manchester Literature Festival 2026 line-up, featuring acclaimed writers, poets and thinkers across fiction, poetry, memoir, politics, culture and ideas.
Neighbourhood Festival 2026
Multiple venues 17 – 18 October 2026Neighbourhood Festival returns to Manchester this October with a takeover of venues across the Oxford Road.
Manchester Animation Festival 2026
Multiple venues 8 – 12 November 2026Manchester Animation Festival returns to the Corridor from 8–12 November with premieres, screenings, talks, workshops and more.
Louder Than Words Festival
INNSIDE by Meliá Hotel 13 – 15 November 2026Louder Than Words Festival returns to Manchester 13–15 Nov 2026, featuring Mike Pickering in conversation on music history.
DMA’s
Manchester Academy 5 – 6 February 2027DMA’S return to Manchester Academy for two nights, celebrating their new self-titled album and fan favourites.
