Festival Square MIF25

Carlton Club All-Day Takeover

Free to attend – no booking required
Silhouette of a person in a cowboy hat riding a bucking horse, holding up a vinyl record against an orange sunset sky with scattered clouds and a faded circular stamp.
Date
6 Jul 2025
Venue
Festival Square, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ
Tickets

10am – midnight

Free to attend – no booking required

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

The Carlton Club descends on Festival Square with an all-day celebration featuring music, family fun, Rummage on the Range and Home on the Range

The Carlton Club is set in the beating heart of the Whalley Range community – a place where good people meet and where friendships old and new are formed over a drink, music and social shindigs.

Expect a jam-packed line-up of music and events for all ages and interest – explore below!

Line-up

Black and white drawn logo for Manchester Little Artists

Manchester Little Artists

10am – 12pm

Enjoy free and messy art workshops for early years with Manchester Little Artists.

A collage of pictures of the Carlton Club Choir on a yellow background with the Carlton Club logo in the right hand corner

Carlton Choir

12–12.30pm

A fun and joyful performance from The Carlton Club’s choir – new members are always welcome!

A person looking through a rail of brightly coloured clothes. Their hair is tied back with a black scrunchie and they have a blue rucksack on.

Rummage in the Range 

12–5pm

Find a second-hand bargain at everyone's favourite community car-boot sale – with vintage and retro goodies, furniture, records, clothes and more.

A person at Semi Peppered Sports Day in a grey sweatshirt plays limbo under a rope on a grassy lawn while others, including referees, watch and stand nearby.

Semi Peppered Sports Day

12.30–1.30pm

Semi Peppered & Building: Bridges present a family-friendly Sports Day. Expect Egg & Spoon, Sack Race and the infamous 3-Legged Race – all set to some pumping tunes!

Poster for the “Manchester Appalachian Old-Time & Folk Session” at the Carlton Club, Whalley Range, held every third Sunday of the month from 3–6 PM. It features a smiling elderly woman playing a banjo, with text noting that no experience is required and all are welcome

Carlton Club Old Time Session

1.30–2.15pm

An acoustic folk session of Old-Time music, which is the precursor to Bluegrass.

A group of people enjoy folk dancing indoors; two people hold hands while others watch and play traditional drums. The scene is lively and festive, with warm lighting and colourful costumes.

Govend

2.15–3pm

Join an inclusive Kurdish dance and music workshop with Govend Manchester – everyone is welcome, no matter their level.

Three musicians play string and percussion instruments in the foreground, while orange silhouettes of other figures appear in the abstract yellow background.

The Greek Folk Collective

3–3.45pm

Mediterranean music collective Greek Folk bring folk music, tradition and a good time.

Dark and moody photo with red lighting of DJ Chafik

DJ Chafik

3.45–4.15pm and 5–5.30pm

Tunisian DJ chafik  explores avant-garde, genre-hopping sounds while paying homage to his North African roots. DJ Chafik

Three members of Oojami sit in front of a mural-painted brick wall with neutral expressions

Oojami

4.15–5pm

Manchester based unique fusion-band Oojami blends Eastern melodies with English vocals and urban electronic influences.

A group of people performing on stage. One holds a saxophone, another holds a guitar.

E&I Collective 

5.30–6.15pm

E&I Collective is a dynamic group specialising in live, original reggae and dancehall music – for reggae fans and newcomers alike!

Close-up photo of DJ Rapha wearing a light purple jumper and smoking

DJ Rapha

6.15–6.45pm

Music enthusiast DJ Rapha spins an eclectic mix of tunes on the decks.

Three members of BRUME sit in front of a wall with colourful graffiti. One wears a red plaid shirt and cap, another wears glasses and a white shirt, and the third wears a black jersey.

BRUME

6.45–7.30pm

Drummer Luke Flowers and guitarist John Diver of BRUME combine jazz improv with electronic sounds.

Black and white photograph of three members of Good Afternoon v

Good Afternoon

7.30–8pm and 8.45–9.15pm

Legendary party-throwers Good Afternoon present their far-reaching musical tastes – from disco to italo, soul to funk and post punk to pop.

A five-member band performs on stage; one plays keyboard, one plays saxophone, one sings and plays electric guitar, one plays bass, and another plays drums, all set against a blue curtain backdrop with stage lights above.

Will Tang Clan

8–8.45pm

Will Tang Clan is a boundary-pushing group of top musicians, blending raw blues with the freedom of jazz and the edge of rock.

Close-up photo of a person playing a trumpet. The lighting is blue.

Funked It Up

9.15–10pm

Expect hits and rarities from 8+ piece collective Funked It Up, as they recreate their live show ‘Back to the Funkin 80s’.

Silhouette of a person in a cowboy hat riding a bucking horse, holding up a vinyl record against an orange sunset sky with scattered clouds and a faded circular stamp.

Home On The Range

10–11pm

The original suburban disco packs 20 years of history into one monthly club night – at Festival Square for one night only!

Black and white photo of Danny Ward

Moodymanc

11pm – midnight

Expect bass driven global grooves from Mancunian DJ, musician, artist and crate digger Danny Ward aka Moodymanc.

Festival Square

A DJ set on Festival Square from MIF23, showing a large crowd of people dancing and filming a DJ on stage. The lighting is hazy green and there are purple strobe lights.
Festival Square – the buzzing heart of MIF – returns with a free programme of live music and performances.

Manchester International Festival 2025

A bold, artistic graphic with the words "DREAM Differently" in yellow text against a red and pink gradient background with a grainy texture.
MIF is back – inviting you to leap into the unknown with some of the most exciting creative minds of our generation.

Access information

Our full address is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

You can approach Aviva Studios along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield). Both entrances to the building have double sets of glass doors.

Once inside Aviva Studios, there is step-free access to all areas of the venue. The flooring throughout the building is smooth concrete.

The entrance to the Warehouse is by lift or stairs from the Social. Two lifts and a staircase to the Warehouse are located in the Social opposite the bar.

The entrance to the Law Family Hall is by lift, escalator or stairs from one side of the Social beside the brick arches. There is only one escalator, and this will take you up to the Law Family Hall before the show, and will be reversed so that you can travel down at the end of the performance.

The Social has a range of seating, including those with arms and backs.

The bars in the Social and Hall Foyer have lowered accessible service points.

Our building is large. We have portable stools available to borrow if you would benefit from resting along the way during your visit.

We have wheelchair spaces and seats at standing events for all events.

There are accessible toilets on all public levels of our building.

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social.

Here you’ll find a mixture of accessible cubicles with left- or right-hand transfer, towards the back of the space, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails, as well as a Changing Places facility.

The toilets in the brick arches of the Social are split into male, female and gender neutral – all of which contain accessible cubicles. There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in both Hall Foyers, at stalls and circle level.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in the Warehouse Foyer.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance dogs are welcome in our building, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request, just ask a host when you arrive. We can also take care of your assistance dog if you do not want to take your dog into the performance space. Please also refer to our assistance dogs policy.

If you are bringing an assistance dog to a ticketed event, please let us know in advance by contacting access@factoryinternational.org or calling our access phone number: 0161 817 4531 (phone lines are open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

Travel information

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

There are a number of rail and tram stations within the city centre which are just a short distance from Aviva Studios. The closest stations are:

By Bike

There are 40 bike parking spaces at Aviva Studios including space for two accessible bikes.

National Cycling Route 6 passes close to the venue and this TfGM webpage can help with route planning.

You can also hire bikes from on-street docking stations across the city centre. The closest docking stations to our venue are currently on Deansgate by Liverpool Road and (400m from the building) and by King Street (500m from the building). Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

By Walking and Other Active Means

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street via Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

If you're coming from Quay Street, the safest route to avoid construction works is via the cut-through opposite Gartside Street and past Booking.com.

All footways in the surrounding area are well lit and there are appropriate crossings across all main roads.

Pedestrians with visual impairment are recommended to approach the building via Water Street, from Liverpool Road. This route has traditional carriageway and footway design with fixed street furniture which should help with navigation to the entrance.

A footbridge at Left Bank in Spinningfields provides an accessible link across the River Irwell to Salford Central station, and a further footbridge also links Aviva Studios with the Salford area of Middlewood Locks.

Free bus

The free bus 1 service connects Piccadilly Station, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations, as well as other areas of the city centre to Aviva Studios.

The service stops on both Liverpool Road and Quay Street, close to the venue. Buses operate every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday and they are wheelchair accessible. For full details of the free bus 1 route and timetable, please visit the Bee Network website.

Bee Network services

Piccadilly Gardens is situated in the heart of Manchester and there are a number of bus services that will take you on to Aviva Studios. The 33 bus which starts at Shudehill, calls at Piccadilly Gardens and will take you straight to Liverpool Road. Services operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, you can board either a 35, 36 or 38 bus to Bridge Street bus stop which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

Coming into Manchester Victoria rail station? Head on over to Shudehill Interchange (which is a seven-minute walk via Hanover Street) where you can catch the 33 bus to Liverpool Road.

Alternatively, you can board either an 8, 67 or 100 bus from Manchester Victoria to Bridge Street bus stop, which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

There is a car park approximately 0.2 miles (350m) from Aviva Studios at Water Street Car Park, New Elm Rd, Manchester, M3 4JH.

There is also a NCP car park (Manchester Spinningfields) approximately 0.25 miles (400m) away from Aviva Studios at Spinningfields, New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BE. It has 35 accessible bays.

There are a small number of Blue Badge spaces along Water St and Quay St. Otherwise head towards Liverpool Road, Great John St and Lower Byrom St – close to our neighbours, the Science and Industry Museum where there are a small number of additional Blue Badge spaces.

For a list of other parking bays available in the area, visit Manchester City Council website.

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