What’s on in July?
01 Jul 2026
Welcome to July’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
Exhibition preview at The Whitworth
Be among the first to experience Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven at the Whitworth. This major international exhibition brings together contemporary artists from Korea and India with historic textiles from the Whitworth's collection, exploring stories of making, memory and connection across cultures.
- Thursday, 9 July (6pm to 8pm): Exhibition Preview
- Friday, 10 July (2pm to 3.15pm): Artist tour
- Thursday, 23 July (6pm to 7pm): Curator tour
New People and Finance system demos
Join either an in person or online showcase demo session to see how our new People and Finance system works, ask questions and discover the benefits for your area.
- Book your place on several sessions until Thursday, 9 July in person or online
Research Café: Housing with care and creativity with older LGBTQ people
Join Creative Manchester to celebrate this pilot research project exploring the experiences, needs, and aspirations of older LGBTQ people and how they experience housing with care.
- Book your place on Tuesday, 7 July 2pm to 4pm at the Kanaris Theatre, Manchester Museum
Our cultural institutions
Manchester Museum
Thursday, 2 July (10.30am to 2pm): Pinc College summer exhibition
Saturday, 4 July (11am to 4pm): Igbo Arts & Culture Day
Sunday, 5 July (11am to 12.30pm): Creative writing workshop with Jenny Lau
Sunday, 5 July (2pm to 3pm): ESEA writers conversation
Sunday, 5 July (3pm to 4pm): On creativity and being Chinese - panel conversation
Wednesday, 8 July (5pm to 7pm): The Contributions of North West Nurses to NHS Health and Social Care
Tuesday, 14 July (12pm to 1pm): Shared Reading
Wednesday, 15 July (1pm to 1.45pm): SEND Live Animal Encounters
Wednesday, 15 July (6pm to 8pm): Punjab Registers: Sharing the Stories for Evermore
From Tuesday, 21 July: Bugtastic!
Whitworth Art Gallery
Saturday, 11 July (2pm to 4pm): Textile workshop with Vian Hussein: What We Carry From Home
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Various dates/times throughout July
The Forgotten Library: Collection Encounter
Friday, 17 July (1pm to 1.30pm): Curator Tour: The Forgotten Library
Our community
Religious celebrations and traditions
Fast of 17 Tammuz (Judaism) Thursday, 2 July
Rohini Vrat (Jain) Sunday, 12 July
Jagannatha Rath Yatra (Hindu) Thursday, 16 July
Fast of Tisha B’Av (Judaism) Wednesday, 22 to Thursday, 23 July
Dharma Day (Hindu) Wednesday, 29 July
Awareness days
South Asian Heritage Month (July – August)
Disability Pride Month (July)
International Non-Binary People’s Day (Tuesday, 14 July)
Groups and Societies
Book club
This month’s book is The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. We will also recap The Offing by Benjamin Myers and The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life by Joseph Jebelli.
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, 31 July 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 August’s ‘What’s on?’ is 25 July. Any questions, just drop us an email!