Factory International Home

Trackie McLeod: UTOPIA

A pub stage with a glittery curtain, blue chairs, tables and a patterned carpeted floor. A pub stage with a glittery curtain, blue chairs, tables and a patterned carpeted floor.
Date
19 - 21 Feb 2026
Venue
North Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

An art installation that happens to be a pub - with real pints, music, performances and more

Playfully exploring nostalgia, class, identity, gentrification and the changing landscapes of Glasgow and Manchester, this installation raises a glass to the places that shaped us.

Created by artist Trackie McLeod with Factory International’s Young Curators, UTOPIA revives the warmth of the working men’s clubs McLeod grew up in in Glasgow – by building a working pub inside Factory International’s Warehouse space.

By day, UTOPIA is open as a pub, exhibition and workshop space – complete with McLeod working shifts behind the bar. Pull up a stool for talks and put the world to rights with mates. Explore new prints, sculpture, video and found-object works from Trackie that draw on his lived experience, tucked between salvaged chairs and rescued pub décor – a loving nod to what’s vanishing from our cities.

Come sundown, the pub transforms into an intimate venue for live music, performances and late-night gatherings. Created as an inclusive, safe, multi-purpose space for everyone, UTOPIA flips the expectations of a traditional working men’s pub on its head. Throwing its doors open to Manchester’s creative scene, it celebrates grassroots culture, giving local talent a platform to meet, create and flourish.

Warm and buzzing with creativity, UTOPIA is all about bringing people together when so many of the community spaces we rely on are disappearing or moving online. Everyone’s welcome – just make sure you get in before last orders.

Image: JJ Spaces ltd 

Events

Tickets

All events for Trackie McLeod's UTOPIA are free. Some require booking – please click on the individual events above to find out more information.

About Trackie McLeod

Trackie McLeod is a Scottish artist based in Glasgow. Trackie uses sculpture, textiles, video and print to explore his lived experience. He is interested in ideas of masculinity and queerness and their intersection with class, politics and popular culture. His visual language is innately Scottish, describing it as “one part tongue-in-cheek, an ounce of sarcasm and a pint of Tennent’s lager”.

About Young Curators

Composite image of the Young Curators 2024 cohort. Top row (L–R): Jack Clarke, Anita Ezeh, Fauziya Johnson. Bottom row (L–R): Otega Ajuchi, Rachel Morgan, Madison Marcantonatos.
The Young Curators are six young creatives based in Manchester who are working with leading industry professionals and artists to explore curation. Their work explores how Factory International can encourage younger audiences. After months of research, they’ve chosen to work with Trackie and create UTOPIA together – programming the evening performances and events.
Meet the Young Curators →

Access information

Getting to Aviva Studios

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.

Inside Aviva Studios

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 Andrew Law 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 Andrew Law 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.

Toilets

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

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).

Train and tram

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 and active means

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.

Bus

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.

Car

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.

Become a Member

Experience extraordinary, all year round by becoming a Factory International Member. It’s just £45 for 12 months of benefits including priority booking, discounts, offers and much more. Are you in?

Join now →

Related Content