WHAT'S ON AT WATERSIDE, MANCHESTER
What's On at Waterside, Manchester
Waterside Arts Centre is a thriving venue in the heart of sale, boasting a theatre, studios, art galleries, and workshops. It hosts touring theatre productions, comedy, exhibitions, dance, music, an audience with evenings, family shows, premieres, and numerous classes and opportunities for the local community.
Opening in 2004, Waterside is nestled alongside the Bridgewater Canal on the Waterside Plaza, making it a stunning location. This modern arts venue has a 350 seated theatre and is home to the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive exhibition where you can meet much loved children’s characters including Postman Pat, Danger Mouse, The BFG, Wind In The Willows, Chorlton 7 The Wheelies, and Count Duckula.
Productions, shows and events coming up include The Detective Dog, Three Little Vikings, Ben Hart, Kerry Ellis, Barbara Dickson, and Hamlet. See what’s on at Waterside Arts below and book tickets online.
Waterside Arts Centre is a thriving venue in the heart of sale, boasting a theatre, studios, art galleries, and workshops. It hosts touring theatre productions, comedy, exhibitions, dance, music, an audience with evenings, family shows, premieres, and numerous classes and opportunities for the local community.
Opening in 2004, Waterside is nestled alongside the Bridgewater Canal on the Waterside Plaza, making it a stunning location. This modern arts venue has a 350 seated theatre and is home to the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive exhibition where you can meet much loved children’s characters including Postman Pat, Danger Mouse, The BFG, Wind In The Willows, Chorlton 7 The Wheelies, and Count Duckula.
Productions, shows and events coming up include The Detective Dog, Three Little Vikings, Ben Hart, Kerry Ellis, Barbara Dickson, and Hamlet. See what’s on at Waterside Arts below and book tickets online.
Most Popular Shows and Events at Waterside, Manchester
What's On at Waterside, Manchester
Hari Budha Magar - No Legs, No Limits
Robert Bolt Theatre
Tuesday 22 April 2025
From injured veteran to the world's first double above-knee amputee to summit Mount Everest; Hari shares his inspiring journey from being born in a cowshed, going to school barefoot, growing up in civil war, passing the most difficult milit...Absolute Bowie - Tribute to David Bowie
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 26 April 2025
There will only ever be one David Bowie, he was unique in every way and an inspiration to millions. Absolute Bowie continue to celebrate the life and music of the Starman with a spectacular show uniting Bowie fans across the UK. Absolute Bo...Niall McCabe
The Chambers
Tuesday 29 April 2025
Deft, intricate guitar work brings a lightness to the weight of Clare Island, Co. Mayo isolation yet the sound, soul and stories of McCabe's life and experiences breathe a deep cultured sense of discernment through his vocals. Â ...Oracle - A New Writing Anthology
Robert Bolt Theatre
Friday 2 May 2025
Enjoy seven short scripts from up-and-coming new writers, from the politically poignant to the utterly nonsensical. 'Oracle' follows radical, queer, groundbreaking Quantum Egg Theatre's pioneer anthology night, 'Algorithm', with another gen...Curious Investigators
The Chambers
Sunday 4 May 2025
Curious Investigators from One Tenth Human is a cracking adventure created in collaboration with engineering experts from Lancaster University: a delightfully surprising, highly visual show for 3-7-year-olds and their grown-ups. Scribble an...SALE NOMADS: Priscilla - Queen Of The Desert
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 7 - Saturday 10 May 2025
Book Now Get ready to sparkle and shine, because Sale Nomads' next musical promises a spectacular journey to the heart of extravagance! With dazzling costumes, unforgettable tunes, and an adventure ...Best of Buzz Comedy
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 10 May - Saturday 6 September 2025
Waterside's legendary monthly comedy night showcasing new and established talent upstairs in the Old Courtroom Chambers. Buzz Comedy is a long-running, well-respected, and award-winning comedy night fronted since 1989 by the veteran wit...A Northern Tr*nny Hootenanny
The Chambers
Tuesday 13 - Saturday 17 May 2025
An uplifting queer parody musical and the story of Hunter's transition, set in the Wild Wild (North) West. Join Hunter King in his gender journey of self discovery and explore themes of dysphoria, joy and discovering your authentic self. Th...The Wheel Of Nouns
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 14 May 2025
What is Gender anyway? Discover why it may be easier than you think in Stevie Hook's new cabaret comedy! Rejoice... or beware! The Gender Fairy is loose and has found their way to Manchester. Enjoy an evening of spinning game show wheels, j...Buff
Waterside, Manchester
Thursday 15 May 2025
Funny yet poignant, this solo-performed play tackles body image pressures, social media jealousy, and one gay man's journey to self-acceptance head on, whilst navigating the toxic universal world of online dating. After a bad break-up from ...The Queer Creatives Assembly
Waterside, Manchester
Thursday 15 May 2025
Book NowLow Availability ?We are at the forefront of telling our own narrative. It?s not at the hands of other people who are outside the community anymore.? Billy Porter (Actor/Singer) Whether you'...Holly Redford Jones - I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 16 - Saturday 17 May 2025
Manchester-based Chesterfield musician turned stand-up comedian Holly Redford Jones is dancing in a Lesbian Bar and you're invited... Set in an imaginary Lesbian Bar, this bold new show is a sonic love letter to sapphic institutions of a by...Home Service
Waterside, Manchester
Tuesday 20 May 2025
Book Now Home Service arrives at the Waterside with Bob Fox at the helm. Touring their new album, A Live Transmission, they blend tradition with pulsating folk rock and trenchant brass to create the unmistakable sound of Ho...FILM: An American in Paris (1951)
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 21 May 2025
Book Now Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman. ACCESSIBLE FILMS FOR ALLOur Friendly screenings aim to make c...Emergence Dance
Robert Bolt Theatre
Thursday 22 May 2025
 Emergence, the touring postgraduate dance company of Joss Arnott Dance and the University of Salford, return with a brand-new, triple bill programme of adrenaline-fuelled dance works performed by a new company of extraordinary dancers. N...
Lunatraktors
The Chambers
Friday 23 May 2025
Broken folk' duo Carli Jefferson and Clair Le Couteur rework Anglo-Celtic traditional music with influences from post-punk, trip-hop and queer cabaret. Lunatraktors strip folk down to the bare bones, mixing tonal percussion, tapdance and ha...ADHD Unmasked
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 23 May 2025
? Book Now We?ve made some changes to our Box Office system and things may look a little different. The great news is we have removed booking fees from all ticket purchases. ...The Detective Dog
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 24 - Sunday 25 May 2025
Tiny & Tall Productions, formerly Tessa Bide Productions, brings you Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie's well-loved story, The Detective Dog on stage for Deaf and hearing family audiences. Whether it's finding a lost shoe or discovering who ...Wille Edwards
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 24 May 2025
Book Now Wille Edwards is one Cornwall?s most successful exports an eclectic songwriter, and frontman of internationally acclaimed band Wille and the Bandits. He has toured with the likes of Deep Pu...An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo
The Chambers
Friday 30 - Saturday 31 May 2025
This is not a coming out story, it is not a gay tragedy, and it is not porn. It is life through the lens of a queer young man, navigating masculinity, Grindr and institution that is rife with shame; doing it all with a sensational soundtrac...John Hegley - An American in Luton
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 30 May 2025
Book Now Festival and radio regular John Hegley returns with a story of family, fantasy, love, loss - and the long unseen son's stamp album. A Caravaggio and a wry dry stone-waller are also thrown into the mixture. ...Spy Movie: The Play
Robert Bolt Theatre
Saturday 31 May 2025
From two of the minds behind The New Musketeers (Trinity Theatre) and stars of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Spy Movie: The Play! is a new hilarious homage to Bond movies and fringe theatre suitable for the whole family...Breathe
Robert Bolt Theatre
Sunday 1 June 2025
Part gig, part puppet theatre and part live film, Breathe explores the inner workings of trees, beautifully realised with a combination of stunning puppetry, breathtakingly detailed sets, and groundbreaking live camerawork. Underscored th...Mike Peters (The Alarm)
Robert Bolt Theatre
Tuesday 3 June 2025
It's been a remarkable career. Mike Peters, frontman of The Alarm, created one of Britain's best-loved rock bands at the turn of the 1980s. He filled arenas, enjoyed hits with Sixty Eight Guns Spirit Of '76, and Absolute Reality, and opened...The Manfreds
Robert Bolt Theatre
Thursday 5 June 2025
The '60s group Manfred Mann is now considered, more than ever, one of the finest and most respected bands from that era. Their numerous hits were R&B based with an undercurrent of jazz - a very unusual but winning combination of playing sty...Rodina
The Chambers
Friday 6 June 2025
Soul and Jazz songs described by Manchester Music as "like an angel holding court in a smoky, chilled underground bar. A classy performance". Rodina (Singer & songwriter Aoife Hearty and her partner Joe Tatton), will be performing a special...Forge: Artists & Makers Development Day
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 14 June 2025
Book Now Join a packed day featuring a mix of panel talks and advice sessions to help develop your business, protect your copyright, price your work, plus how to reach galleries and boost your audience ...FILM: Strangers on a Train (1951)
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 18 June 2025
Book Now A psychopath tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person. ACC...Shellshocked
Robert Bolt Theatre
Friday 20 June 2025
From the creative team behind the five-star, multi-award-winning Jesus, Jane, Mother and Me and LASH, comes a thrilling new drama. The horrors of World War Two have broken young Wesley, but could the madness he encounters beyond it save or ...Max ZT & Dan Whitehouse
The Chambers
Friday 20 June 2025
 New York's Grammy nominated Max ZT (House of Waters), and Tokyo/Black Country's lauded Dan Whitehouse combine their inventive energy for their latest tour. ZT, the hammered dulcimer player compared to Hendrix, and the ever-regenerating W...
Awake Arise - Lady Maisery and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith
Robert Bolt Theatre
Monday 23 June 2025
Having bewitched audiences annually with their much-loved wintertime show, two of the most engaging and inventive acts on the English folk scene return with their hotly anticipated next alchemic collaboration: an essential incantation to th...Something About Lennon - The John Lennon Story
Robert Bolt Theatre
Thursday 26 June 2025
Imagine a show that tells the story of one of popular music's most iconic figures in a totally unique way. A tale of controversy, genius, politics and protest, Something About Lennon charts John's story from the breakup of The Beatles to h...ComedySportz
The Chambers
Saturday 28 June - Saturday 13 September 2025
You've seen football. You've seen tennis. But have you seen Comedy as a sport? Then you don't want to miss this all ages, all action, all improvised competitive comedy show! Two teams battle it out for laughs with quick-witted gags, games, ...Three Little Vikings
Robert Bolt Theatre
Sunday 29 June 2025
Wrongsemble present a family show all about cooperation, bravery, and getting your voice heard! Three brave little Viking girls save the day in this bold and funny adventure story for little rebels, by the creator of the New York Times Best...Michael McGoldrick & Tim Edey
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 4 July 2025
Book Now The duo is a special meeting of old friends bringing together virtuosity and sheer musical magic Michael McGoldrick and Tim Edey are celebrated musicians in the realm of Celtic folk music, ...Onyx Dance: The Red Carpet Summer Show 2025
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 5 July 2025
Book Now Join Onyx Dance for their Red Carpet Summer Show! Pre...Mary Poppins (PG)
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 9 July 2025
★★★★ The stage version is packing them in down the West End, Mary Poppins is finally dusting off its heritage as TV schedule filler and reminding audiences why it's one of Disney's greats. ~ Empire. --- The classic 1964 Disney film...The Gigspanner Big Band & Raynor Winn - Saltlines
Robert Bolt Theatre
Sunday 13 July 2025
Taking audiences by storm from Land's End to the Scottish borders, Saltlines is an immersive Prose and Music collaboration between bestselling author Raynor Winn (The Salt Path) and The Gigspanner Big Band, a top tier lineup which features ...The Whirligig of Time
The Chambers
Sunday 13 July 2025
From the team that brought you the five-star Shakespeare's Fool, Tortive return with another spectacular one-man hit show. To hell with anger management! Malvolio was done notorious wrong; so much so that he swore to be revenged on the 'who...Daddy's First Gay Date
Robert Bolt Theatre
Thursday 17 - Friday 18 July 2025
Is it selfish to leave someone you might love in order to find yourself? An uncomfortable restaurant break-up becomes a pressure-cooker first date in this brand-new comedy written by Sam Danson (BI-TOPIA) and Directed by the award-winning ...Arun Ghosh & Full Band
Waterside, Manchester
Tuesday 22 July 2025
Book Now Join us for a magical opening night of Refract Festival as acclaimed clarinettist Arun Ghosh along with his full band takes to the stage in our intimate Cabaret Club. Fusing jazz, Indian cl...Ben Hart
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 23 - Thursday 24 July 2025
 Following sold-out shows around the world, The Remarkable Ben Hart returns with a brand-new show - his most astonishing and impossible yet. Prepare to have your reality rewritten with a brand-new mind-bending theatrical experience from t...TAPE FACE:20
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 23 - Thursday 24 July 2025
Book Now Celebrating 20 years of TAPE FACE, the show returns to where its worldwide journey began. Mime with noise, stand-up with no talking ? drama with no acting. This is a one-off opportunity to see this show before it h...Bay Bryan
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 25 July 2025
Book Now Originally from the foothills of Colorado, Bay Bryan is a Manchester-based singer-songwriter whose concept album The Meadow (2023) caught the attention of music lovers across genres. Bay's ...Jekyll & Hyde
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 6 September 2025
In a new and enthralling one-man stage adaptation of the classic tale of terror, acclaimed actor Jonathan Goodwin plays both Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde in this production from Don't Go Into The Cellar! Victorian theatre company. Journey...
Counting Sheeps
The Chambers
Sunday 7 September 2025
A sleepy, sheepy show from Herd Theatre for babies and toddlers (and very tired grown ups). Two sheep think they know everything about sleep. They're experts in the field. But tonight they're wide awake. Snuggle up and join two sheep on a j...Ed Patrick
Robert Bolt Theatre
Friday 12 September 2025
In "Catch Your Breath: The Secret Life of a Sleepless Anaesthetist", NHS anaesthetist, comedian and author (oooooh check him) Ed Patrick injects you with a gut-punch hilarious show about becoming a junior doctor, the NHS, the pitfalls of mo...Alex Voysey
Robert Bolt Theatre
Saturday 13 September 2025
Cheltenham blues guitarist Alex Voysey has a reputation for exhilarating and virtuosic blues rock live performances - exciting audiences wherever they go. Their new show 'Best of the Blues' combines tracks from Alex's IBBA no.1 album 'Blues...The Clone Roses & DJ Dave Sweetmore
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 19 September 2025
Book Now Making their welcome return to Sale Waterside are the UK?s leading tribute to The Stone Roses ?The Clone Roses? The Clones have performed at some of the most iconic venues in the UK, respec...The Stars Of Irish Country
Robert Bolt Theatre
Thursday 25 September 2025
 Featuring the Queen of Country Music Philomena Begley who is celebrating 60 years in the music business and has had a glittering career that spans over 6 decades at the top, the accordion maestro and hugely popular Sean Wilson who makes ...Kerry Ellis
Robert Bolt Theatre
Friday 26 September 2025
 Kerry Ellis is the Queen of the West End. From My Fair Lady to We Will Rock You, from Les Miserables to Wicked, in both the West End and on Broadway, she has starred in musical theatre's biggest roles, making shows her own and earning ...How to get to Waterside, Manchester
Waterside Frequently Asked Questions
1 Waterside Plaza, Sale, Manchester, M33 7ZF
The nearest carpark to Waterside Arts is Q Park Waterside.
Waterside ticket holders can claim a 20% discount by requesting a ticket upon entry to the car park and showing it to the Waterside box office.
Sale metrolink tram stop is just across the road.
The theatre capacity at Waterside is 350.
If you lose your tickets for seated events at Waterside, you can request replacements to be printed out for collection on the day of the performance (ID required upon collection). This service will be charged per ticket.
For further ticket information you can contact Waterside team for further information.
If you would like to buy a ticket in person from Waterside Box Office, they open Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm.
Alternatively, you can see what's on and book online here.
When we know of a duration of a show, we add it to the description of the show on our event pages. For example, on our Wicked event page, after the description of the show we have added the duration of the show in large capital letters. If the time isn't listed, we do not have the information yet. We update our pages daily so it maybe a case of knowing closer to the performance itself, so keep checking.
Please click here for more information on accessibility at Waterside Arts.
Whether you have positive or negative feedback you would like to feedback to Waterside, please click here for more contact information.
If you have lost an item during a visit to Waterside Arts, click here to contact the venue.
Waterside Arts Centre can welcome you to their Sup Bar & Coffee House.
There are also eateries at Watersale Plaza.
With loads of great places to eat in Manchester and decent pre-theatre menus, you should check out our Manchester Restaurant site here!
Sup Bar & Coffee House within Waterside arts is a great place for a re show drink.
There are also bars on Waterside Plaza.
Manchester is full of great bars and pubs and some decent ones close to the venue. check out our Manchester Bar site here!
Either use the map at the side of the FAQ section as it has all types of accomodation or click here for hotels in Manchester
You can also check out the recommended local accomodation by Waterside Arts.
If you need further information, you can contact the Waterside team directly.
Please note that ManchesterTheatres.com isn't the venue itself. We promote what's on at the Waterside and all other venues in Manchester and the local region. Feel free to contact us if you need more help though and we'll do our best to support you.
Most Popular Shows and Events at Waterside, Manchester
