School Holidays in Manchester

Looking for things to do during the summer school holidays – then you’re in the right place. There are loads of fun activities, from sports camps to family-friendly events to keep all ages entertained. And with many of them free or low-cost, they won’t break the bank.

Don’t miss National Play Day on Wednesday 5 August, with free activities taking place across Manchester. You can also join this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, with free events in libraries across the city.

In Manchester, we also run a free holiday club programme for children on benefits-related free school meals. All of the sessions must be booked via our partner site Manchester Active. For information on what’s available near you, and how to book click here.

Have a fantastic summer.

A bright blue sky with some cloud cover and the tops of three leafy tree branches. School holidays in Manchester. — Image credit: Pexels/ Murat Halici

Top Picks

Two young girls sat down on the grass blowing bubbles.

Parktastic : At a park near you this summer

Between June and September. Details for each park on attached posters.

Free Just drop in!

Two young people stand in a swimming pool. They are wearing goggles on their heads.

Free Swimming in Manchester

Did you know that young people, living in Manchester, can swim for free during the school holidays?

21 July 2026 - 31 August 2026

Photograph of Section 28 protest, Manchester, 20 February 1988

Re/Assemble

People’s History Museum, City Centre

17 January 2026 - 3 January 2027

10:00am - 5:00pm

Three people with their arms around each other looking at artwork on a gallery wall.

Manchester Open 2026

HOME, City Centre

20 June 2026 - 6 September 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

A circus performer wearing a turquoise costume performs off the ground on aerial ropes.

Black Gold Arts: Summer Festival

Aviva Studios, City Centre Castlefield

15 August 2026

12:00pm - 6:00pm

Museum technician with engine in Power Hall

Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery

Science and Industry Museum, City Centre Castlefield

Reopens 17 October 2025

10:00am - 4:00pm

A promotional banner for the show that reads Head, Shoulders, Knees and Goals.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Goals

National Football Museum, City Centre

27 March 2026 - 1 November 2026

10:00am - 5:00pm

£0.00 to £18.00

An illustration of a lighthouse. The lighthouse is black and white with a strong yellow light coming out of it in the shape of a triangle. The sea below is blue and we can see the outline of birds, coloured in black, below too.

Tales from the Lighthouse

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026

10:30am - 2:00pm

A room with white bookshelves filled with books and a rainbow structure in the centre of them.

Summer of Stories at Z-arts: Week One

Z-arts, Hulme

28 July 2026 - 1 August 2026

10:30am - 2:30pm

A group of children sit on the ground and watch on as a child has a go at the long jump.

Manchester Active Free School Holiday Activity

Manchester Active and Manchester City Council are offering hundreds of FREE activity places for children eligible for benefit-related free school meals.

21 July 2026 - 31 August 2026

A person wearing black trainers in an athletics stadium

Parkrun at Philips Park

Philips Park, Clayton

16 March 2024 - 26 December 2026

9:00am - 10:15am

A wood engraving of a stag standing next to an oak tree.

Performing Trees

The Whitworth, City Centre

30 September 2025 - 4 April 2027

10:00am - 5:00pm

A yellow tudor-style long dress that has been unpicked. The skirt, the bodice and the arms are laid out separately on a flat surface.

Worn: The Life Within Clothes

Manchester Art Gallery, City Centre

26 March 2026 - 13 February 2028

10:00am - 4:00pm

A wide countryside view shows pale limestone rocks scattered across a grassy slope, suggesting an ancient stone setting. A single person crouches beside one group of stones, while patchwork fields and low hills extend into the distance under a soft, open sky.

Common Ground

Manchester Craft & Design Centre, City Centre

7 April 2026 - 28 August 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

A set of clippings of images of the Portico Library through the years. The clippings overlap and show the structure of the building.

Everything and Nothing

The Portico Library, City Centre

20 March 2026 - 3 October 2026

12:00pm - 4:30pm

A promotional graphic for "Mission: Mad Hatter: A Wonderland Quest for ages 9+." The top half shows a collage of children interacting with tablets and Wonderland-themed elements like giant mushrooms, floating playing cards, and a large clock. The bottom half features the bold, colorful title text over a red background.

Mission: Mad Hatter

Z-arts, Hulme

9 May 2026 - 31 December 2027

10:00am - 6:00pm

£75.00 to £114.00

A dancer wearing traditional Bhangra dress teaching a small group to dance.

Dhol Drum & Bhangra Dance Workshop

HOME, City Centre

2 August 2026

11:00am - 11:59pm

People at market stalls outside.

Love Parks Community Festival

Alexandra Park, Whalley Range Moss Side

28 July 2026

2:00pm - 4:00pm

A child wearing a spider man t shirt holds up a Lego house.

Lego Club

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

5 August 2026 - 26 August 2026

1:30pm - 3:30pm

A performer dressed up as a mouse, wearing clothes and holding a wedge of cheese.

All In A Mouse’s Night

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026 - 2 August 2026

11:00am - 12:00pm

A group of young people in a dance session. They stand with one arm raised up.

Afrocats Family Dance Workshop

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026

1:00pm - 3:00pm

A close-up picture of a person concentrating as they are juggling.

Drop-in Family Circus Workshop

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026 - 2 August 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

An colouful and simple illustration of a creative activity.

Family Crafts & Activities with Phoebe Foxtrot

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

Three paper blocks stacked on top of one another. They have designs drawn onto them like a house and a boat. There are coloured felt tip pens near the paper blocks.

Make Your Own Story Dice

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

A group of batala drummers in tradition Brazilian Batala costume playing their drums as they walk outside.

Batala Manchester

HOME, City Centre

2 August 2026

12:00pm - 1:00pm

A man with a large moustache wearing a beige suit and holding a large suitcase.

Over to You: The Storytelling Gameshow

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026

10:30am - 11:59pm

A boy riding a blue bike on a graveled path.

Bikeright Play Day

Wythenshawe Park, Wythenshawe

5 August 2026

11:00am - 2:00pm

A woman dressed in a rainbow coloured dress with rainbow coloured hair and a huge rainbow coloured bow on the top of her head. She smiles and has her fist underneath her chin. There is an illustation of a big blue bookmark with a face on it next to her.

The Magic Bookmark

HOME, City Centre

2 August 2026

11:30am - 12:30pm

A simple illustration of a footballer with their arms folded. They are wearing a blue jersey.

National Football Museum

HOME, City Centre

1 August 2026 - 2 August 2026

11:00am - 3:40pm

A table with various paper craft artworks displayed on it.

Creative Families

Manchester Art Gallery, City Centre

21 July 2026 - 30 July 2026

1:00pm - 4:00pm

Two young BMXers ride around a BMX track in front of a crowd

Platt Fields Outdoor BMX Track

£1.00 for members and £2.00 for non-members Plan your visit!

A black and white portrait photograph of Yotam Ottolenghi

Temporary Exhibition: Through A Queer Lens – Stories of LGBTQ+ Jews

Manchester Jewish Museum, Cheetham Hill

14 June 2026 - 11 September 2026

12:00pm - 12:00pm

£0.00 to £12.00

People are stood under colourful gazebos on a sunny day in a Manchester park.

National Play Day at Boggart Hole Clough

Boggart Hole Clough, Harpurhey

5 August 2026

11:00am - 2:00pm

A stack of children's books with penguins, ladybirds and puffins figures.

Puffins, Penguins and Ladybirds: Summer Family Fun

Elizabeth Gaskell's House, Ardwick

22 July 2026 - 30 August 2026

11:00am - 4:30pm

£0.00 to £9.00

Cartoon image of ukeleles with photo of person playing ukelele

Ukulele Taster Session at Moss Side Millenium Powerhouse

Moss Side Millenium Powerhouse, Moss Side

6 August 2026

4:30pm - 6:30pm

A group of people sitting with their scripts.

Free Creative Writing & Performance Workshops in Old Trafford

OT Creative Space, Whalley Range

24 June 2026 - 9 December 2026

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Three people sat on chairs in a black box studio. One person is stood up as if they are teaching the class.

Free Creative Writing & Performance Workshops at HOME

HOME, City Centre

22 June 2026 - 7 December 2026

7:00pm - 9:00pm

A colourful striped canopy in red, yellow and blue.

Civic Carnival

Wythenshawe Civic Centre

7 August 2026

11:00am - 3:00pm

A woman with long black hair, standing, speaking into a microphone.

Free Creative Writing & Performance Workshops at Central Library

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

23 June 2026 - 8 December 2026

5:30pm - 5:30pm

A performer holding a hula hoop in a grassy area. There are lots of people in the background.

Z-arts National Play Day at Hulme Park

Hulme Park, Hulme

5 August 2026

11:00am - 1:00pm

Barry Finan's art work, YESS LLAD ILL BE BRRILLIANNT TO YOU , made up of lines of writing in blue and pink on a white background.

Public Tour with Katherine Long – Venture Arts

HOME, City Centre

12 August 2026

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Cartoon image of two young girls wearing hijab doing crafts together.

Saoirse Salaam: Girl’s Social Group

Salahadeen Al-Ayubi Mosque, Withington

Ongoing, every Friday

5:30pm - 7:00pm

A painting where the bottom half of the work is painted green and the top half of the work reads 'Dog' in green paint.

Public Tour with Phoebe Foxtrot

HOME, City Centre

2 September 2026

6:00pm - 7:00pm

A graphic illustration of a clockface, with silhouettes of buildings around it and profiles of faces in the bottom right hand corner.

BYMT’s The Clockmaker’s City

Z-arts, Hulme

31 July 2026 - 2 August 2026

7:30pm - 4:00pm

£18.00 Book Now

Poetry in the Parks

24 July 2026 - 2 August 2026

10:00am - 4:00pm

The Comedy of Errors

4 August 2026 - 8 August 2026

6:00pm - 4:00pm

People walking through a park.

FitFest at Cringle Park

Cringle Park, Levenshulme

1 August 2026

11:00am - 4:00pm

A bag of popcorn with a pair of glasses lying on top.

Film Fridays

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

7 August 2026 - 28 August 2026

1:00pm - 4:00pm

A community event in a park.

One Manchester Community Fun Day at Birchfields Park

Birchfields Park, Longsight Rusholme

5 August 2026

11:00am - 2:00pm

People walking through a park.

National Play Day at Collyhurst Park

Collyhurst Park, Harpurhey

5 August 2026

1:00pm - 2:30pm

A row of different coloured gazebos in a park and there are people standing around them.

National Play Day at Crowcroft Park

Crowcroft Park, Longsight

5 August 2026

11:00am - 2:00pm

Two Lego figures stood on a tree branch.

National Play Day at Fog Lane Park

Fog Lane Park, Didsbury Burnage

5 August 2026

2:00pm - 4:00pm

People stood under blue gazebos at market stalls.

Circus Skills, Outdoor Games, Arts and Crafts

Birchfields Park, Longsight Rusholme

29 July 2026

4:00pm - 6:00pm

Two young people collecting litter

Giant Board Games and Litter Pick

Old Moat Park, Withington

2 August 2026

2:00pm - 4:00pm

A young girl planting seeds in a pot on a table.

Learn to Grow Your Own Food

Crowcroft Park, Longsight

30 July 2026

1:30pm - 3:00pm

A range of different coloured footballs on a sports field.

Family Fun & Sports Day

Blackley Recreational Ground, Blackley

28 July 2026

12:00pm - 3:00pm

A guitar crafted from cardboard.

Guitar Craft at Central Library

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

11 August 2026

2:00pm - 3:30pm

People walking on a pathway through a park.

Family Picnic, Giant Board Games & Tree Trails

Marie Louise Gardens, Didsbury

1 August 2026

12:00pm - 2:00pm

A woman wearing yellow clothes with her hands on a DJ mixing deck.

Read and Rave at Central Library

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

3 August 2026

2:00pm - 3:30pm

Two little girls wearing princess paper hats exchange flowers.

Craft Session: Princess Hat Making

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

6 August 2026

2:00pm - 4:00pm

A girl with a football at her feet on a grassy pitch.

National Play Day Sports Event with UK Sports Coaching

Plant Hill Park, Blackley

5 August 2026

12:00pm - 2:00pm

A little girls looks through a microscope while two other girls look on.

STEM Club

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

13 August 2026

2:00pm - 3:30pm

A paper rainbow, star-shaped stickers and some coloured pencils lying on a blue table.

Pride Storytime

Manchester Central Library, City Centre

27 August 2026

2:00pm - 3:00pm

A close-up of a baby's chubby hand resting on stacked adult hands, with a tiny finger gently touching the screen of a black smartwatch.

Toddler Takeover at Manchester Jewish Museum

Manchester Jewish Museum, Cheetham Hill

Every Friday

10:00am - 11:30am

Featured Guides

A child plays with a hula hoop

Family things to do in Manchester

Outside of the football museum on a bright day

Days Out in Manchester

Young people on stage holding signs

Things to do for Young People in Manchester

Four people doing an activity on a table with a large world map.

Age Friendly Activities in Manchester

Hear about things in Manchester

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