What’s On
Liverpool is a vibrant city, with plenty of activities to suit all tastes. Find out what’s happening and when with our handy ‘What’s On’ calendar.
12th February 2025 - 20th December 2025
Elizabeth Smolen: Trailblazer
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Discover the life of local legend Elizabeth Smolen, a Polish refugee who settled in Birkenhead and became a champion scooter racer and successful businesswoman. A keen motorcyclist and engineer, Smolen made a name for herself by repairing, dealing and racing scooters and became part of Wirral’s scooter scene. Elizabeth Smolen: Trailblazer explores Smolen’s early life...
12th February 2025 - 20th December 2025
Subterranean Elevator
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Subterranean Elevator has been conceived by artist Di Mainstone, and developed with a team of inter-disciplinary specialists. The installation invites intrepid visitors to explore the inner worlds of soil and the subconscious mind. On entering a dark, elevator-shaped environment, they will feel a soft earth-like substance beneath their feet, where they can stand, sit, or...
12th February 2025 - 20th December 2025
Albert Richards
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
March 2025 will mark 80 years since the passing of Albert Richards, the youngest official war artist to be killed in action during WWII. The Williamson holds over two hundred of his works, spanning from his days at the Wallasey School of Art to the frontlines of France in 1944. These works show the incredible...
12th February 2025 - 20th December 2025
Philip Wilson Steer: In Conversation
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Born in Birkenhead, Philip Wilson Steer was a pioneer of impressionism in Britain during the late nineteenth century. Studying in Paris in the 1880s, he was exposed to this radical way of painting after seeing works by the likes of Degas and Manet. With his loose approach to painting and depictions of scenes that were...
5th June 2025 - 4th January 2026
Live Aid 40: Music, Power & Unity
British Music Experience
A temporary exhibition looking at the legendary Live Aid concert 40 years later through some of the personal archive of organiser Bob Geldof. It was the 13th of July, 1985 and the world waited with anticipation as the stage at Wembley Stadium was poised to launch Live Aid. BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner famously...
7th June 2025 - 1st December 2025
Total Stranger
Cafe Tabac
This June, Café Tabac is proud to host a brand new photography exhibition celebrating the early years of one of Liverpool’s most iconic performers, Pete Burns of Dead or Alive. Total Stranger: The Unseen Photographs of Pete Burns and Dead or Alive 1978–1983. Opens Saturday 7 June | Free entry The exhibition features 16 stunning...
29th August 2025 - 23rd November 2025
Helen Anna Flanagan and Gavin Gayagoy
FACT Liverpool
This exhibition brings together two artists exploring the complexities of human existence in the modern world. Through their artworks, Helen Anna Flanagan and Gavin Gayagoy navigate experiences of alienation through societal neglect and digital isolation. Both works were created during artist residencies at FACT and developed in Studio/Lab – FACT’s dedicated space for nurturing and supporting...
6th September 2025 - 1st March 2026
John Moores Painting Prize 2025
Walker Art Gallery
UK’s most prestigious painting competition returns for its 68th year, bringing together the best contemporary painting from across Britain. This year’s jury – Louise Giovanelli, Gemma Rolls-Bentley, Michael Simpson, Dr Zoé Whitley and Zhang Enli – have selected works that represent the cutting edge of British painting today. From thousands of entries, this exhibition showcases...
13th September 2025 - 31st December 2025
Autumn-Winter Botanical Art Workshop series at Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall
Join Knowsley Hall’s artist in residence, Sue McHugh, at The Boathouse for Lear by the Lake: . Creative workshops celebrating the work of Edward Lear’s love of nature and nonsense. Learn botanical watercolour skills with tea & cakes in a stunning lakeside setting. Would you like to follow in the footsteps of Edward Lear, painting...
13th September 2025 - 29th March 2026
Treasure: History Unearthed
Museum of Liverpool
From Bronze Age gold and Viking silver to hoards of coins, discover Treasure unearthed in this new exhibition. Revealing personal stories and global connections, Treasure: History Unearthed will feature the largest collection of archaeological treasure ever shown in the region, with finds from the North West and Wales. Highlights will include key items from a...
