Get a friendly welcome at People's History Museum in Manchester, the national museum of democracy. Explore the museum and be empowered by the past to make a change for the future.
Follow the link below to plan your visit, and find out what to expect when you get to PHM.
Plan your visit
For group visits of over six people, follow the link below to fill in an enquiry form.
Booking is required to guarantee entry.
Group visits are not taken during our dedicated quiet time between 2.00pm and 5.00pm on Fridays.
Book your group visit
The museum is located on the corner of Left Bank and Bridge Street, opposite the Civil Justice Centre, alongside the River Irwell, in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre, postcode M3 3ER.
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Follow the link below for information on how to get to PHM.
Getting to PHM
The museum is Family Friendly throughout, from facilities to family favourites including hands-on interactives and activities connecting you and your family with PHM’s unique collections and stories.
Bring your buggies, refillable water bottles and expect a warm welcome, simple signage, accessible toilets, and plenty of picnic places.
The museum has a Quiet Room you can use during your visit and sensory tools can be borrowed from access stations throughout the museum.
Plan your family visit
We are committed to supporting all visitors during their time at PHM. We understand that everyone’s access needs are different.
Please talk to us if you have queries or require any assistance in advance of your visit on 0161 838 9190 or access@phm.org.uk.
For accessibility information check out our Detailed Access Guide on the AccessAble website.
Access at PHM
Explore PHM’s galleries, exhibitions, and hands-on and digital interactives engaging adults and children alike.
Use PHM’s visitor map to familiarise yourself with the museum building ahead of your visit.
Find out what's on
Take a break for brunch, lunch, or an afternoon pick me up in PHM’s café Gather
A picnic area is available for visitors bringing their own food and drink to the museum.
View menu
A unique gift shop in Manchester inspired by the museum’s collection, full of books, cards, homeware, souvenirs and great presents for kids and grown ups.
Shop the collection
Join other visitors and make a donation today, helping to ensure the museum remains free for all.
Support PHM
💀 Can you keep a secret?
This skeleton once guarded the secrets of workers joining together to fight for better conditions. Painted around 200 years ago, it was revealed during secret ceremonies as new trade union members promised loyalty and silence.
A spooky warning to anyone thinking of breaking their promise…
This Halloween half-term, discover its story with our brand new FREE family activity for children aged 5–12, with an accompanying adult. Pick up an activity sheet from the welcome desk, crack codes and get creative making your own spooky skeleton mask, inspired by the Secret Society Skeleton painting in Gallery One.
Bring your curious kids along this half-term, with the activity available until 30 November.
🎟️ FREE - drop in, no booking needed
🎨 All materials provided
Plan your visit via the link in bio 📲
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #HalfTerm #ManchesterFamilies #Halloween #FreeFamilyActivities
👋🏼 Who better to share what’s worth exploring at PHM than the people who work here?
We asked our team which exhibition they love most and why. Here’s what they picked ....
Take a look, then come and discover your own favourite. Explore stories of protest, solidarity and the people who helped shape our democracy ✊🏼
Free entry. Open 10am–5pm, every day except Tuesdays.
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #ManchesterMuseums #IdeasWorthFightingFor #ThingsToDoManchester
📅 PHM dates | October
Make the most of October with a visit to People’s History Museum for exhibitions, free family activities and Halloween discoveries.
Dates for the diary:
🚩 October | On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity
Explore a century of strikes and collective action in the final weeks of PHM’s exhibition marking 100 years since the 1926 General Strike.
FREE. Closing Mon 2 Nov.
💀 October | Secret Society skeleton activity
Make a spooky skeleton mask, become a code breaker and create your own Halloween story. Suitable for children aged 5–12 and their grown-ups, with all materials provided.
FREE, drop in | Continues until Mon 30 Nov
📚 Sat 24 Oct | Over Here Zine Fest
Enjoy workshops, talks and stalls with zine makers, artists, writers and activists, showcasing creatives from the global majority.
FREE, drop in | 10am–4pm | Ages 12+
🎃 Sat 24 Oct–Sun 1 Nov | Halloween half term
Bring the family for skeleton secrets, spooky storytelling and the interactive Match Girls’ Strike game. Stop at Gather café for seasonal treats or bring your own picnic.
Closed Tuesdays
🏳️🌈 October | Re/Assemble
Discover artwork, banners and objects exploring Manchester’s 1988 protest against Section 28 and its legacy.
FREE
🎁 Book ahead | Winter Makers Market
Save Sat 21–Sun 22 Nov for gifts, crafts, homeware and tasty treats. Tickets are also available for the preview evening on Fri 20 Nov, Spirited Women cocktail tasting and festive lino printing workshops.
Market entry FREE | 11am–4.30pm
Find out more and plan your October visit via the link in bio.
Open 10am to 5pm, every day except Tuesdays.
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #WhatsOnManchester #ManchesterMuseums #OnTheLine #HalloweenManchester
✊ Take a piece of On The Line home with you
There are just 5 weekends left to experience On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity exhibition.
PHM shop collection is a chance to take home a lasting reminder of the exhibition`s artwork and stories, including David Ramsey’s painting ‘The Past is Another Country’ featured on a canvas tote bag.
On The Line closes on Monday 2 November, so there’s still time to visit, explore 100 years of strikes and solidarity, and pick up a keepsake before it’s gone.
Explore the collection in the PHM shop after your visit.
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #OnTheLine #IdeasWorthFightingFor #MuseumShop #ManchesterMuseums
✊🏼 Ever wondered about the powerful artworks used in protests?
Find out more on `The Art of the Strike` guided tour on Thursday 1 October, the last in our series of guided tours exploring On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity exhibition.
Led by the exhibition’s lead curator and PHM Exhibitions Officer Mark Wilson, discover the artists, poster collectives and radical printshops behind the vibrant visual culture of strike action, and the creative propaganda they produced.
You can also delve deeper into the story in our latest blog, where Mark explores how visual culture has always been at the heart of the labour movement, from brightly painted flags and banners to posters, t-shirts and art.
Read the blog and book your place on the guided tour via the link in bio, before On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity exhibition closes Monday 2 November.
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #OnTheLine #IdeasWorthFightingFor #ManchesterMuseums
🤖 Looking for something fun to do with the kids this weekend?
Bring your mini protesters to PHM for one last chance to BUILD-A-BOT!
Get creative, bring your very own protest bot to life and decide what it stands for, before taking your creation home with you.
Make a day of it, explore the museum together and see what your mini protesters come up with.
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #BuildABot #ThingsToDoManchester #FamilyDaysOut #IdeasWorthFightingFor
Yesterday, we welcomed @findmypast to the museum for a special @heritageopendays event, where visitors could delve into their own family history using Findmypast’s genealogy database.
From uncovering the stories of suffragettes and the working people behind movements for change, to exploring the lives, jobs and communities of our own ancestors, the day was a reminder that history isn`t only made by the names we already know. It`s made up of millions of ordinary lives and the stories they leave behind.
A huge thank you to Findmypast, our speakers and everyone who joined us to uncover, share and celebrate these stories 🩷
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #Findmypast #HeritageOpenDays #FamilyHistory #PeoplesHistory
🔎 The countdown is on … just 3 days to go!
This Saturday, we’re joining forces with @findmypast for a FREE day of talks and discovery as part of @heritageopendays.
Enjoy FREE access to Findmypast throughout the day, delve into historical records, objects and archives, and uncover the stories of everyday people.
Here’s what’s happening on the day👇🏻
🕥 10.30am & 2.00pm
Find your past: How local history brings family stories to life. With Findmypast genealogist @jenbaldwin_genealogy
🕦 11.30am & 3.00pm
The Peterloo Massacre: Remembering everyday local heroes. With Jen Baldwin and PHM’s @jenmabbott and Eleanor Whitehead.
🕧 12.30pm & 4.00pm
Votes for Women: Discovering the Manchester suffragette banner. With @helenantrobushistory, Jen Baldwin and Jenny Mabbott.
Save the Date
📅 Sat 19 Sept between 10am-5pm
📍 People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester
Save the date and join us this Saturday. Who knows what you might discover?
#PeoplesHistoryMuseum #Findmypast #FamilyHistory #ManchesterHistory ThingsToDoManchester
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