Our top tips for making the most of the week ahead, with brilliant things to do across the whole of Greater Manchester…  
 

1. Take a free walking tour of the city 
 

As the seasons change, there’s no better way to take an Autumnal walk around the city with the much-loved Discover Manchester walk from Manchester Guided Tours. Running daily, and free to join, tours start at Manchester Central Library at 11:00. The ninety-minute tour takes in the city’s best sightseeing, history and culture spots, and offers a fascinating insight to Manchester. Stops include St Peter’s Square and its beautiful changing Autumnal leaves, the stunning John Rylands Library, Manchester Cathedral – one of the city’s oldest buildings, and the Royal Exchange, a former trading hall converted into an impressive theatre in the round. The tour is free, but guests are welcome to tip their guides at the end of the walk. 
 

2. Watch Laura Wade's comedy Home, I'm Darling at the Octagon  
 

A sell-out smash hit when it premiered in 2018, Laura Wade’s cutting comedy, Home, I’m Darling has arrived at the newly revamped Octagon Theatre as part of their autumn programme, with performances running until Saturday 2 October. 

Sweet peas in the garden; homemade lemon curd in the kitchen; conjugal joy in the bedroom. Judy (Sandy Foster) and Johnny (Tom Kanji) seem to be the perfect couple – quite sickeningly happy, in fact. But is their marriage everything it seems? Are there cracks in their domestic bliss? And where do they go when the manners and morals of the 1950s don’t quite suit them?  

Laura Wade’s blistering satire takes a timely scalpel to gender roles in modern Britain through the eyes of a 21st-century couple slowly discovering that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
  

3. Celebrate Sisterhood with a free new exhibition at Contact Theatre 
 

Opening on Monday 27 September, Contact Theatre opens a new free exhibition showcasing vivid photography celebrating sisterhood and colourful identity. A collaboration between Contact Theatre and Speakers Corner, the exhibition forms part of Peaceophobia, a performance exploring car culture and islamophobia. The exhibition runs until 6 December and is free to attend.  
 

4. Catch the final week of the Greater Manchester Fringe  
 

The Greater Manchester Fringe festival continues its final week, with shows, musicals, spoken word and, comedy in venues across Greater Manchester. Highlights include Warhol Bullet Karma, a darkly witty take on the American pop art icon Andy Warhol and the woman who shot him, Valerie Solanas; …that’s what she said, a play that explores six young women on holiday and the divisions of their class, race and background; and Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, an immersive camp musical comedy, where Rocky Horror meets Charlie’s Angels with cosmic cabaret held at one of Manchester’s beloved Gay Village venues. 
 

5. 50,000 free beer pints on offer from Robinsons Brewery 
 

Stockport-based Robinsons brewery is giving away almost 50,000 free pints across its pubs, including at a selection of its Greater Manchester sites. Coinciding with Cast Ale Week, customers can earn pints with their collectors’ cards, getting the 5th pint free! For those interested in the craft behind Robinsons, you can also take a brewery tour at its Stockport site, which includes a fascinating look at brewing, tasters of beer, and a visit to meet the resident Shire Horses! 
 

+ Book Now: Lightopia festival returns to Heaton Park 
 

The popular Lightopia festival returns with its flagship event at Heaton Park for the third year running, with a brand-new enchanting light and lantern festival that promises to give you that warm Christmas feeling. Running from 19 November 2021 to 3 January 2022, Lightopia will bring a never-before-seen illuminated trail with magical and multi-sensory interactive lights, lanterns and installations. Tickets for the festival are now available to pre-book