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
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...Sale Festival: Swing & Swing Again Big Band with Trafford Music Service Jazz Collective
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 7 June 2025
Book Now The Swing & Swing Again Big Band and young musicians from the Trafford Music Service Jazz Collective, will sing and play a variety of music including Swing, Jazz, Latin, Pop and film themes. ...Sale Festival: Henry VIII - England's Most Controversial King an illustrated talk
Waterside, Manchester
Monday 9 June 2025
Book Now Known for his 6 wives there is much more to this King. He fought wars against the French and the Scots; he began to reform the country?s religious beliefs. He destroyed the monasteries and ...Sale Festival: Trafford Music Service Ensembles and Soloists
Waterside, Manchester
Monday 9 June 2025
Book Now Trafford Music Service present their ensembles and soloists Our ensembles will include our Intermediate String Ensemble, and Trafford Music Service String Quartet. The members of Intermedia...Sale Festival: Gorse Hill Studios 10 for 10 Showcase
Waterside, Manchester
Tuesday 10 June 2025
Book Now The event is to showcase the talent from GHS and celebrate our 10th anniversary Gorse Hill Studios is an award-winning creative arts charity for children and young people, which is celebrat...Sale Festival: Primary School Choirs Celebration
Waterside, Manchester
Wednesday 11 June 2025
Book Now An hour and half of uplifting songs! Choirs from Primary Schools in Trafford take to the platform to perform songs of their own choice, and then come together to sing ?en masse? under the d...Sale Festival: Craig Ogden Classical Guitar
Waterside, Manchester
Thursday 12 June 2025
Book Now Join Sallow Tree Concerts and Sale Festival for a very special evening of beautiful music as we welcome back Classic FM featured artist, Craig Ogden, for a delightful summer?s evening of beautiful classical guitar ...Sale Festival: Showtime 25
Waterside, Manchester
Thursday 12 June 2025
Book Now An evening of song, dance and jazz to remember Led by host Billy Scouse, regulars Cadmans dance & Sale Nomads joined by the distinctive tones of Salford Born, Dominque, who last performed a...Sale Festival: Summer Soul with The Soul Federation
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 13 June 2025
Book Now The Soul Federation is an award-winning band playing Soul, Northern Soul and Blues Brothers hits. They play classic soul the way it should be played ? no synths! With appearances at the leg...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 ...Walkden Gardens: Wind In The Willows
Waterside, Manchester
Sunday 15 June 2025
Book Now Pack your picnics and join Ratty, Mole, Badger, and the fantastically irrepressible Toad as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime! Multi-award nominated Immersion Theatre proudly bring...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...Sale Festival: Discovering the Unknown at the Large Hadron Collider
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 27 June 2025
Book Now How can smashing particles together at the Large Hadron Collider help us unlock the Mysteries of the Universe?What have we discovered so far, and what remains unknown?From the search for Dark Matter to the possibil...Sale Festival: Love For Sale
Waterside, Manchester
Friday 27 June 2025
Book Now Hootin Annie?s Big Band along with Rednotes acapella choir, will take you through an exciting multimedia evening celebrating the town of Sale ...ComedySportz
The Chambers
Saturday 28 June 2025 - Saturday 14 February 2026
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, ...Sale Festival: ‘Make Some Noise'- Sale Sings and Chorlton Sings Joint Concert
Waterside, Manchester
Saturday 28 June 2025
Book Now Join us for an unforgettable celebration of singing, community, and live music! Join us for an unforgettable celebration of singing, community, and live music!Sale Sings and Chorlton Sings ...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...An evening of soulful Indian classical vocal by Padma Bhushan Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
Waterside, Manchester
Thursday 10 July 2025
Book Now GURU VANDANA: An evening of soulful Indian classical vocal by Padma Bhushan Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, the esteemed Padma Bhushan awardee, the living legend, guru and ...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...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
