Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum will host events for all ages in February featuring playful science to a Nicola Tesla-inspired live performance.
So, what’s on at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum?
Electricity: The spark of life
Electricity is a powerful force of nature, spectacular and thrilling. For centuries, humans battled to harness and control it. This exhibition looks at the history of that battle, and how our relationship with electricity will change as we move towards a low carbon future.
Stephenson’s Rocket is on display at Manchester Science and Industry Museum
Rocket returns
Stephenson’s Rocket has returned to Manchester for the first time in over 180 years. This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to see an iconic symbol return to the site of the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway, the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which is now home to the museum.
Special Events
A Victoria Funfair comes to Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum
February half term activities – Saturday, February 16 – Sunday, February 24
All the fun of the Victorian fair will come to Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum this February half term holiday. From the Ferris wheel to the helter skelter, it’s guaranteed to be a great day out for all the family. And once you’re tired of hook-a-duck, head to the museum’s Textiles Gallery to find out all about the lives of the children who worked in the mills of the Industrial Revolution. Or simply marvel at the incredible buildings that housed the earliest intercity passenger railway, dating way back to 1830, before learning all about Stephenson’s Rocket which has returned to Manchester for the first time in over 180 years. In the exhibition Electricity: The spark of life, we look at the incredible natural force that has inspired scientists and inventors for centuries, while across the museum there will be a host of shows, activities and workshops to keep everyone entertained.
Free admission, charges may apply to some activities.
Pi: Platform for Investigation – Saturday, February 9
Pi: Platform for Investigation – Powered by Siemens is a monthly event where families can discover together the cutting-edge research that’s happening right now and how it affects our lives. This month’s event focuses on landmine detection, with scientists from the University of Manchester and Sir Bobby Charlton’s Find A Better Way charity.
Free admission, no booking required
Experitots – Friday, February 15
Once a month Manchester Science and Industry Museum’s hands-on science gallery, Experiment, is filled with a range of multisensory activities specifically for children aged one to four. During these relaxed sessions, toddlers and their adults are encouraged to play, explore and experiment together. A team of friendly Explainers are on hand to support young explorers throughout the morning.
Tickets £5 for one adult and one child, additional adults and children £3. Book via www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk.
XFRMR – Friday, February 15
Nikola Tesla meets industrial electronica as Robbie Thomson’s XFRMR (pronounced ‘Transformer’) is to be performed in Manchester for the first time this February. In 1891 the genius inventor Nikola Tesla tamed lightning with his Tesla coil, a device that renders electricity visible. XFRMR explores the possibilities of the Tesla coil as an instrument in a composition inspired by the sounds of space weather and electromagnetic fields.
18+ Tickets £5, book via www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk
Free Family Shows
Manchester Mills
A thunderous demonstration of historic mill machinery shows the whole journey of how cotton is processed from its raw state to the finished product—a piece of calico cloth.
Every day, 2pm and 4pm. Free
Weavers Wanted
The Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, is looking for weavers, scavengers and piecers of all ages to become apprentices. Learn all the tricks of the trade as they turn cotton into the thread that made everything from napkins to knickers!
Every day, 11am and 12 noon
Engine Demonstrations
Find out how a mill engine works, and discover its role in the Industrial Revolution. Find out about how these massive machines powered factories and provided the grunt behind the Industrial Revolution.
Every day, 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm
Meet Baby
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed ‘Baby’, was the first computer to store and run a program. Watch volunteers run the replica Baby and see how far computing has come since 1948.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 10am – 3pm
Revolution Manchester
This lively show tells the story of how science and industry came together in Manchester, shaping our lives today.
Monday to Friday, 10.30am, Saturday and Sunday 11.15am
Permanent Galleries
Experiment!
Stare into the mirror of infinity, create a tornado, and watch your own skeleton ride a bicycle. Play with 25 hands-on exhibits and see science in action.
Connecting Manchester
From the printing press to modern computing, discover how technological advancements have made it possible for us to communicate further and faster, enabling us to entertain and inform on a mass scale.
Textiles Gallery
Manchester is built on cotton. The Textiles Gallery tells the story of the people, products and pioneers that made it and their continuing legacy in our city and our world today.
Revolution Manchester
Thread your way through Manchester’s rich legacy of industrial innovations, scientific discoveries and ideas that changed the world.
Revolutionary Railroad
World-shaping, record-breaking, life-changing. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world’s first intercity line that started a transport revolution.
Power Hall
Discover the machinery that powered mills all over the North West and helped to shape our world. Once a railway transit shed, the Power Hall is now home to some of MSI’s locomotives, rolling stock and a huge collection of engines.
