Events
Talks, tours, workshops and more at the Whitworth – both outdoors and in.
Find out what's on at the gallery – nearly all of our events are free. Join our newsletter list to be among the first to hear the latest news and updates.
Get a deeper insight into the Whitworth’s gallery and park. Led by a member of our Visitor Team, our daily tours (Tuesdays - Sundays at 2pm) alternate between a more detailed look at our current exhibitions and works on display, and an escape to the outdoors to share the stories of Whitworth Park. For more information, please visit our Gallery Tours page.
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Artist in Residence
Join Venture Arts artist Sally Hirst most Thursdays in our Everyday Art School space on our Mezzanine.
Every Thursday
10am-2pm
Free, drop inFind out more
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Curator Tour
Join Hannah Vollam, Assistant Curator (Art), for a more in-depth look at Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground. This tour will give new insights into Le Bas' work and practice, including new works that were created for the exhibition.
Thursday 28 May
6pm-7pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Delaine Le Bas & Ronke Osinowo: NO performance for Un-Fair-Ground
To celebrate the last weekend of this fantastic exhibition, join us for a very exclusive performance from Delaine Le Bas and Ronke Osinowo. This will take place in the exhibition space itself for a fully immersive experience, exclusive to ticketholders.
Saturday 30 May
11am-11:30am (doors open 10:45am)
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Bloomtown 2026
The Whitworth is hosting the finale of Bloomtown, Manchester's fourth annual festival by the National Trust and partners celebrating the season of blossom.
Sunday 31 May
11am-3pm
Free, drop-inRead more
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Beneath the Great Wave Curator Tour with Imogen Holmes-Roe
Join Imogen Holmes-Roe, Curator of Historic Fine Art as she gives an overview of this landmark exhibition, where Imogen will be pulling out some of the social and historical themes from within the exhibition.
Thursday 4 June
6pm-7pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Visitor Experience Tour
Join one of our Visitor Experience Assistants as they delve into the history and art of Hokusai and Hiroshige.
Saturday 6 June
2pm-2:45pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Still Care: What does care look like?
Join us for a calm and welcoming afternoon for maternity healthcare professionals. This hands-on workshop will be led by ceramic artist Simge Vurtak and will explore a simple question: What does care look like? Using clay, you’ll be invited to think about how care feels in your life and work, how it can support, comfort, or sometimes feel challenging.
Sunday 7 June
12:30pm-4pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Sunday Concerts
Friends of the Whitworth present a series of free Sunday Concerts that are open to all. At 3pm on selected Sunday afternoons, students from the Royal Northern College of Music perform in our South Gallery, overlooking Whitworth Park.
Sunday 7 June
3pm - 3.45pm
Free, drop inRead more
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Ceramics Workshop with Blether Craft Club
Join El Garrard from Blether Craft Club to explore mark-making and coloured slips, creating your own unique set of ceramic tile artworks inspired by The Practice of Liberation. Blether is a community arts collective who run events, workshops and a monthly Craft Club at the Carlton Club in Manchester.
Thursday 11 June
6pm - 8pm
From £32, with concessions availableBook your place now
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Community Day
Inspired by both Universally Manchester Festival and Refugee Week, the Whitworth's 2026 Community Day highlights the joy, resilience and shared experiences that grow through creative collaboration. Alongside workshops, performances, exhibitions and conversations, visitors are invited to come together, share stories and experience how art can create connection, foster understanding and celebrate Manchester’s diverse communites.
Saturday 13 June
11am-4pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Curator Tour
Join Olivia Heron (Curator, the Whitworth) to discover more about the exhibition Michaela Yearwood-Dan: The Practice of Liberation.
Thursday 18 June
6pm-6:30pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Connoisseur or conman? Manchester’s forgotten Japanese art collector
Join us for our third talk in the series with Dr Lewis Ryder on the topic Connoisseur or Conman? Manchester’s forgotten Japanese art collector introduced by Professor Erica Baffelli.
Thursday 18 June
6:30pm-8pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Recoverist Curators: Final Curator tour
What happens when the act of curating becomes an act of cultural and social activism? Recoverist Curators: Reimagining the World We Live In has spent the last year informing that question. With the exhibition now entering its final weeks - you are invited to a last public tour with three of the curators.
Thursday 25 June
6pm-7pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Workshop: Where are you really from?
To celebrate Refugee Week and Pride Month, this workshop invites you to explore the concept of “home”, both as a physical place and as an internal sense of belonging, through the medium of film and zine-making.
Saturday 27 June
1pm-3pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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STEPHEN & More
This unique screening of the feature film STEPHEN includes additional short films and clips, selected by Melanie Manchot to offer a unique insight into her practice, create context and provide sources of ideas for discussion. Screenings followed by Q&A with Melanie Manchot and Lena Theodoropoulou (Lecturer in Public Health, University of Liverpool).
Thursday 2 July
6:30pm-8pm
£3, booking requiredBook your place now
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Blether Craft Club’s Ceramics Workshop
Join El Garrard from Blether Craft Club to make a ceramic tile inspired by The Practice of Liberation. Blether is a community arts collective who run events, workshops and a monthly Craft Club at the Carlton Club in Manchester.
Thursday 3 September
6pm - 8pm
From £32, with concessions availableBook your place now
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A virtual journey in Edo Japan (1603-1868): mapping famous places
Join us for our fourth talk in the series The Floating World: People and Landscapes in Edo with Dr Sonia Favi on the topic A virtual journey in Edo Japan (1603-1868): mapping famous places, introduced by Dr Erica Baffelli.
Thursday 17 September
6:30pm-8pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Beneath the Great Wave Curator tour with Imogen Holmes-Roe
Join Imogen Holmes-Roe, Curator of Historic Fine Art as she gives an overview of this landmark exhibition, where Imogen will be pulling out some of the social and historical themes from within the exhibition.
Thursday 24 September
6pm-7pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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Beneath the Great Wave Curator Tour with Imogen Holmes-Roe
Join Imogen Holmes-Roe, Curator of Historic Fine Art as she gives an overview of this landmark exhibition, where Imogen will be pulling out some of the social and historical themes from within the exhibition.
Thursday 29 October
6pm-7pm
Free, booking requiredBook your place now
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