Factory International

Super Duper Family Festival – The Party

This event has ended
A person dressed as a golden disco ball in the Social surrounded by excited children playing with bubbles.
Date
15 - 18 Feb 2025
Venue
North Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
Tickets
FREE, Pre-booking required

The Party Zone: 11am–12pm, 1–2pm and 3–4pm

The Chill Out Zone in the Social is open from 10am to 5pm and does not require a ticket.

We have free personal assistant tickets available for wheelchair users and disabled visitors. We do not require proof to book a personal assistant ticket with your access ticket.

Personal assistant tickets are free with a wheelchair, disabled, BSL, captioned or audio description ticket at any price point, including £10 and concession price tickets. Personal Assistant tickets are intended for people for whom it would be significantly difficult to access our venue without support from another person.

To book access tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org. For more instructions, please visit How To Book Access Tickets.

This event has ended

All children under 12 require kids’ tickets, children 12 and over require adult tickets.
Running time: 1 hour

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

Entertain the kids this half-term with a series of family raves from The Playhouse Project – as part of the city-wide Super Duper Family Festival

The Super Duper Family Festival transforms Manchester into a city-wide play zone this February half-term. Join the Party Zone at Aviva Studios featuring a series of family raves from the wonderful Playhouse Project.

Expect all the usual bubble-making, parachute games and face-painting for kids and adults – set to a stellar soundtrack!

Don’t feel like dancing? Chill out in the Social with the Chill Out Zone featuring dance-themed films and craft workshop.

It’s all put together by The Playhouse Project – a unique family-friendly social event, organised by a crew of seasoned clubbers and DJs from Manchester who are now parents.

The Party is part of the brand-new Super Duper Family Festival, which takes over the city from Saturday 15 to Tuesday 18 February. See Manchester’s public spaces, squares and venues transformed into exciting Play Zones, with games, dancing, activities, crafts, performances and more to enjoy. Explore the full line up here.

Keep your eyes on this page for more details being announced soon!

Image: Shaheda Choudhury

CBeebies Bedtime Stories

CBeebies Bedtime Stories will be getting in on the action at The Party zone, where families can join CBeebies presenters Evie and Rhys for a chill out… with a difference! After settling down and reading a CBeebies Bedtime Story, there’s a surprise in store as we turn up the energy for an unforgettable family rave. Get your glow sticks at the ready and prepare to party as we shout… ‘It’s Not Time For Bedtime!’

CBeebies Bedtime Stories are part of The Rave sessions on Saturday and Sunday at 11am, 1pm and 3pm which are now sold out. For those who didn’t manage to snap up a free ticket, make sure to join us in the drop-in lounge for a pop-up craft workshops by The Playhouse Project, a dance and music themed playlist of programmes curated by CBbeebies on the big screen and more.

Tickets

Please reserve a free ticket for the family rave, as there is limited capacity. All adults and children require tickets to access the family rave in the Warehouse. Activities in the Social are drop-in and do not require a ticket.

We have free personal assistant tickets available for wheelchair users and disabled visitors. We do not require proof to book a personal assistant ticket with your access ticket.

To book access tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org.

Good to know

Please note children must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. We ask that there are no more than three children with any one adult. We kindly request no running.

On arrival at the venue all ravers (both big and small) will be issued with a wristband. We will be asking adults to write their mobile number on the inside of any children’s wristbands so that we are able to contact you in the unlikely event that you are separated from your child.

Please note the Warehouse will be an alcohol-free zone. There will be a bar to purchase non-alcoholic drinks.

FAQs

Yes! All adults and children require a ticket to access the Party Zone in the Warehouse.

Activities in the Social are drop-in and do not require a ticket.

Buggies have to be left in the buggy park area and cannot be taken into the event in case of tripping. Slings or baby carriers are recommended.

Please note a maximum of three adults are allowed per child, and a minimum of one adult per three children.

Strictly no adults admitted without a child.

Music is kept at safe levels at all times in line with our risk assessment guidelines. However, the music is still loud. Please bring ear defenders if you wish.

There will be photography and filming for promotional purposes. Please let the photographer know if you would not like your child filmed.

Tickets for The Party are free but must be pre-booked. All adults and children require a ticket to enter the North Warehouse.

You will be able to access The Chill Out Zone in the Social without a ticket.

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).

To book access tickets and personal assistant tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org.

Access bookings can be made by email, phone or online. They are also available in person at Aviva Studios.

There is step-free access to all areas of the venue, with lift access to the North Warehouse from the Social.

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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