Manchester has one of the world's best cultural offerings, with the city packed with museums, galleries and theatres.

Our cultural gems have been forced to close for months on end, but the finish line is finally in sight.

From Monday May 17, venues will be allowed to reopen and welcome visitors back inside once again.

It will provide a vital boost to the city-region's economy, as well as restarting Manchester's leisure and tourism sectors.

Here's when you can get back inside your favourite museums, galleries and theatres.

National Football Museum

National Football Museum

The world-leading National Football Museum will open up again on Thursday May 27, with new exhibitions to explore.

Visitors will be able to see the English Football Hall of Fame, showcasing some of those who’ve made an outstanding contribution to football, both on and off the pitch.

There's also a new photographic exhibition opening on June 11, 2021, coinciding with the rescheduled Euros, looking at the popular culture surrounding the Euro 96 tournament.

From late July, the National Football Museum will open its Lily Parr gallery, celebrating England's first international women's footballer.

You can book tickets in advance here.

IWM North

IWM North

The Imperial War Museum, the huge silver structure across the water from MediaCityUK, will be back open from May 19.

The main exhibition space, along with the Big Picture Show - which projects documentary-style footage and stories onto the walls of the gallery - will both return.

The exhibition Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire is also open, free to visit and extended until September 24.

Advance bookings are preferred - you can reserve your slot at iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north.

Science & Industry Museum

This museum will be unveiling its new £5m Special Exhibitions Gallery when it reopens, launching the new space with a Top Secret exhibition curated with GCHQ.

The Science and Industry museum will open its New Warehouse, Upper Yard, Revolution Manchester, Textiles and Experiment galleries, plus new gardens, from May 19.

Other parts of the site remain closed for a restoration project.

Entry is free but needs to be booked in advance at scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk

People's History Museum

People's History Museum

The People's History Museum, which sits right on the River Irwell on the border of Salford and Manchester, will fully reopen on May 19.

This will be an exciting one to watch as it launches its brand new cafe offering in partnership with zero-waste enterprise Open Kitchen.

Reopening next week will be the main galleries, the banner exhibition, the changing exhibitions gallery, the shop, and the archive and study centre.

Walk-ups are welcome but prebooking your visit is advised - you can do so at phm.org.uk

Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum

This incredible collection of natural history, including local favourite Stan the T-Rex, will welcoming guests from Wednesday May 19.

All the Natural History galleries are open and free to visit, but the Archaeology and Ancient Worlds galleries (including Ancient Egypt) are closed until 2022 while the museum undergoes a £13.5m transformation.

Book your free, timed-entry ticket at museum.manchester.ac.uk.

Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester Art Gallery

Located right in the heart of the city centre, the beautiful Manchester Art Gallery will open most areas of the gallery on May 19.

Visitors will be able to explore an exhibition of works selected by artist Grayson Perry during Grayson’s Art Club, the popular Channel 4 TV series, as well as see its collection of 25,000 objects from across the centuries.

You can walk in to most of the gallery, but will need to pre-book for Grayson's Art Club at manchesterartgallery.org

The Lowry

The Lowry

This leading theatre and arts venue in Salford is finally able to get back to business this month.

The Lowry will reopen its galleries, at weekends only for now, from Saturday May 22, with the first indoor performances resuming on May 30.

It's also working to deliver an outdoor theatre show, C-O-N-T-A-C-T, from May 18.

You can see more about The Lowry's reopening plans at thelowry.com.

HOME

HOME

Nabbing the title for the first big arts centre to reopen in Manchester is HOME, which will throw open the doors from Monday May 17.

There's no indoor theatre for now, but there is an art exhibition (Soul Journey to Truth), a full roster of films (including three Oscar nominees), and the return of its cafe and restaurant space.

HOME will also launch Homeground later in the month, a huge festival-style outdoor venue.

See more at homemcr.org/visit.

CFCCA

CFCCA

Manchester's Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art will reopen both of its galleries on Wednesday May 19.

Exhibitions Multiplicities in Flux and Autopsy of a Home, which originally opened in October, will be back until June 13.

Booking is advised at cfcca.org.uk but walk-ups are welcome.

The Whitworth

The Whitworth

From Wednesday May 19, the stunning Whitworth gallery will be partially reopen to the public, with a film screening of Imran Perretta: the destructors on display.

The cafe will be back open too, but the full gallery will be up and running again by July 1, in time for its MIF21 summer exhibition.

Plan your visit at whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/visit.

Castlefield Gallery

One of the city's hidden gems, Castlefield Gallery will be able to show its Obstructions exhibition in real life for the first time - for five days only.

Obstructions brought together 15 artists from across Greater Manchester during lockdown.

The gallery is open from May 19 and you can see more at castlefieldgallery.co.uk.

Manchester Jewish Museum

Manchester Jewish Museum

This is another opening that will be the talk of the town when it reopens, as the Manchester Jewish Museum unveils its £6m transformation to the public for the first time.

You'll have to be patient though - the Chetham Hill venue won't open until July 2, when it kicks things off with a MIF co-commissioned installation.

General admission tickets will be available soon at manchesterjewishmuseum.com.

RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music)

The RNCM

Another one that you'll have to exercise patience for is the RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music), which is - understandably - prioritising the return of students and tutors.

You can see the latest updates at www.rncm.ac.uk.

The Stoller Hall

The Stoller Hall

The first public events will return to the Stoller Hall from June 7.

Shows will be socially-distanced with reduced capacities initially, but there are hopes that it will be back to near-full capacity by September.

See more and book tickets at stollerhall.com/whats-on.

Royal Exchange Theatre

Royal Exchange

We'll all have to wait until June to get back inside the world-class Royal Exchange Theatre.

The venue will open on June 23, with details to be announced at royalexchange.co.uk in due course.

Hope Mill Theatre

Hope Mill Theatre

This wonderful independent venue, located out in New Islington, was one of the few theatres that managed to reopen last year after lockdown.

It'll be back again with a reduced capacity and socially distanced seating for a Meet Me At Dawn, from HER Productions.

You can get tickets at hopemilltheatre.co.uk.

Chetham's Library

Chetham's Library

They don't come much older than this - Chetham's Library will be celebrating its 600th anniversary this year.

It plans to reopen from June 21, with its existing visitor tour as well as a new themed tour offering.

See more at library.chethams.com.

Manchester International Festival

Festival Square at MIF, back in 2019

Less of a venue, more of an event, but Manchester International Festival is also set to make its grand return this summer.

The huge arts festival will sprawl across the region between July 1 and July 18, with work including a huge dance show on Deansgate and a Big Ben sculpture made of books in Piccadilly Gardens.

The full programme announcement is here and you can book tickets at mif.co.uk, as well as learning about volunteer opportunities.

Z-Arts

Live participation classes are already up and running at Z-Arts, but it'll be a little wait for the theatre and gallery spaces.

See the latest updates at z-arts.org/see-whats-on.