Drink
The Velvet Lounge Bar on Canal Street offers a great selection of drinks in their Moulin Rouge inspired surroundings. Order a Velvetini for an indulgent treat in a glass or a Sangria Cocktail Pitcher for the group, or just with a straw if you've had a rough week.
Click here for more information.
Eat
For a cracking Saturday night meal go to Stock Restaurant in Norfolk Street. They use fresh and seasonal ingredients for modern but authentic Italian food. Try their starter of veal carpaccio with caper and lemon dressing before a main course of a steak topped with duck liver in a Marsala reduction. For pudding, their baked fig and blackcurrant tart as the grand finale.
Click here for the restaurant´s website.
Comedy
Comedian Andrew Lawrence hosts his show The Best Kept Secret In Comedy at The Lowry on both Sunday and Monday night. He's been seen on BBC1's Comedy Roadshow and is a double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee. The Guardian has said "Lawrence could be the defining stand-up comic of his generation."
Tickets are £13. Click here for more information.
Club
Cuba Cafe in the Northern Quarter is a strictly over 25s club on the weekends, located on Port Street in the Northern Quarter. So if you're past your mid-twenties and feel like a night out among peers, visit Cuba Cafe and make sure to have your dancing shoes on.
Click here for their website.
Art
Check out A Flash of Light: The Dance Photography of Chris Nash, a new exhibition opening on Saturday at The Lowry. It features three decades of Chris Nash's best work as a dance photographer and documents 30 years of contemporary dance in Britain. The exhibition will be on display until 13 May.
Admission is free. Click here for more information.
Concert
Catch Laura Marling´s concert at the O2 Apollo on Friday night. This 22-year-old folk singer won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and she's been prominent within the London Folk scene. Support comes from Pete Roe and Timber Timbre.
Tickets are £21.25-£28.50. Click here for tickets to the concert.
Listen to her track Sophia.
Film
The new comedy Wanderlust stars Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, along with Alan Alda and Malin Akerman. A Manhattan couple move out of the city and find themselves in the idyllic community Elysum where money can't buy happiness, no one wants a career and clothes are optional.
Click here for tickets.
Watch the trailer for Wanderlust.
Theatre
The Circus of Horrors: The Ventriloquist is on at Manchester's Opera House for one night only on Monday, 12 March. The show, best known for its performances on Britain's Got Talent in 2011, features flying aerialists, sword swallowers, twisted contortionists and its latest star The Ventriloquist.
Tickets are £13.00-£28.00. Click here for tickets.
Family
Above the main galleries at The Lowry there is a hands-on family friendly activity space called Hit the Deck. There you can express yourself through painting after looking at the Lowry Favourites and it also has a special corner for the youngest visitors. A perfect weekend activity for the family where you can let your inner Picasso shine.
Entry is free, but donations are welcome. Click here for more information.
Festival
Don´t miss the ¡VIVA! - 18th Spanish and Latin American Film Festival at Cornerhouse. This international festival showcases the best in new Spanish and Latin American cinema to celebrate Hispanic film culture. The 2012 festival presents feature films, short films, documentaries, director Q&A´s, special guests and a new exhibition of the Mexican artist Minerva Cuevas´s work. ¡Viva! is the largest and most popular Spanish language film festival in the UK.
Click here for more information.
