Ever fancied visiting a museum at night? Well, now you can. Manchester’s beloved Science and Industry Museum is hosting a Museum After Hours event on Thursday 5 October, meaning visitors can run free beyond usual opening hours.
Anyone over the age of 18 can play their way through its top experiences; getting to grips with five decades of gaming in Power Up; awakening their inner child inside its epically entertaining, world-first exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You; and discovering ideas that change the world in a different light by exploring its galleries after dark.
At the special late-night opening, there will also be the chance to discover a host of activities, exhibitions and experiences that are great for grown-ups to enjoy on every visit. Whether it’s students wanting to uncover more about their new home, visitors to the city, or locals looking for engaging things to do in their free time, there’s something for everyone to explore.
Visitors will be transported back in time through 50 years of computers and consoles in retro gaming experience, Power Up. From the Atari 2600 to the latest next-gen virtual reality, players will rediscover retro classics like Pong and Pac-Man, take on friends or foes during multi-player showdowns, or experience first-hand how gaming technologies have advanced through the ages.
The museum’s blockbuster exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You, will also be available to explore. The lively adventure encourages visitors to leave their inhibitions at the door and embrace silliness in the name of science as they dive headfirst into digestion and celebrate the amazing inner workings of the human body.
The museum’s permanent galleries will also be open. Visitors can relax with a drink in Revolution Manchester, where iconic objects from the city’s pioneering past are on display. This is also where MicroCosmic, a unique audio-visual spectacle by artist, Paul Miller, will showcase a journey from the microscopic to the infinite vastness of the universe, and the Microbial Puppet Masters team from the Universities of Salford and Liverpool will be revealing the secrets of bacterial communities in the human body through giant interactive models and drop in activities.
Guests can also journey through Manchester’s textiles history in the Textiles Gallery experiencing the thundering machinery in action during live demonstrations, and play their way through the interactive Experiment gallery, seeing science brought to life right in front of their eyes.
The Science and Industry Museum is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound renovation project across its seven-acre site to open brand new spaces and make significant improvements to some of its best-loved galleries. Although this means some of its buildings are temporarily closed, there is still a wealth of ongoing activities for grown-ups to enjoy on every visit.
Museum After Hours takes place on Thursday 5 October between 6pm – 9pm, and tickets are £10 (£8 concessions), available here.