What’s on in May?

30 Apr 2026

Welcome to May’s edition of ‘What’s on?’. Here you will find everything you can get involved in for free each month, ranging from cultural, extracurricular and celebratory events and activities.

Events

Colleague Benefits Pop-up

Drop in and discover a range of the benefits available at The University of Manchester. Pre-register to be entered into a draw to win a £50 voucher.

Book your place on Thursday, 14 May, 10am - 2pm in University Place (in-person).

Research Data Conversations

Our final session of the academic year welcomes Phil Reed to discuss open research, career development for digital research staff, and improving data sharing and reproducible research with partners.

Book your place on Tuesday, 12 May 12pm to 1pm at Main Library, Ground Floor Seminar Room (Vegetarian/vegan pizza provided for lunch)

Greater Manchester AI Day

A collaboration between Cloudforce and four Manchester Universities, this event will be full of inspiring talks, real-world insights and deeper conversations. Whether you're a business leader, researcher, student, or just AI-curious - this day is for you.

Book your place on Friday, 22 May 9am to 3pm at Engineering Building B

Our cultural institutions

Manchester Museum

Various dates: Introductory tai chi qigong sessions

Wednesday, 6 May (3pm to 8pm): Wellbeing Wednesday: It's a long time from May to December!

Various dates: Talk English Circle

Saturday, 9 May (2pm to 4.15pm): Waving Kites: Reunification

Saturday, 16 May (2pm to 4.15pm): Waving Kites: Flowing Stories

Tuesday, 19 May May (12pm to 1pm): Shared Reading

Wednesday, 20 May (1pm to 1.45pm): SEND Live Animal Encounters

Whitworth Art Gallery

Thursday, 7 May (6pm to 7pm): Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige Visitor Experience Tour

Sunday, 10 May (1pm to 4pm): Still Care: Who will you thank?

Various dates: Friends of the Whitworth Sunday Concerts

Sunday, 10 May (3pm) – Yaxin Fang & Ana Nadais
Sunday, 24 May (3pm) – Alex Roualt

Thursday, 14 May (6pm to 7pm): Meditation in Nature

Saturday, 16 May (10.30am to 1.30pm): Outdoor Art Club

Thursday, 21 May (5.45pm to 6.45pm): Performing Trees Exhibition: Curator Tour

John Rylands Research Institute and Library

Wednesday, 6 May (3.15pm to 4.45pm): Spineless Wonders: Songs and Street Literature

Thursday, 7 May (7pm to 8.30pm): Manchester Must Dance – Mike Pickering & Kevin Cummins

Groups and societies

Book club

This month’s books are The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. We will also recap The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller.

You don't even need to have finished the book (although there will be spoilers!).

Why not head over to our Viva Engage (yammer) group for more reading inspiration. Looking forward to a good discussion!

Please contact Fiona.Lynch@manchester.ac.uk for the zoom link for Friday, 29 May 12.30pm to 1.30pm

Want to feature your event next month?

If your event is free and open to all colleagues at the University, you can advertise it here next month!

Submit your suggestion to uninews@manchester.ac.uk by 25 of each month to feature in the following month. Please send us a short description (max 30 words) and any relevant links you may have too.

Please note that we unfortunately cannot guarantee your submission will feature, but we will do our best to feature as many as we can.

The deadline to feature in May’s ‘What’s on?’ is 25 April. Any questions, just drop us an email!