Weekly Vlog #456 | HOME Creator Day, Malory Towers, Balloonatic & We Invented The Weekend Festival

Come along with us for Weekly Vlog #456, where we share what we got up to during the week of 1st–7th June 2026. We spent the start of the week on holiday at Ribby Hall Village, which will be featured in our upcoming holiday vlogs, so this week's vlog begins on Saturday with a busy weekend full of family events, theatre trips and festivals. 🎨 HOME Manchester Family Creator Day On Saturday morning, we headed to HOME Manchester for their Family Creator Day. After catching the 255 bus into Manchester, the children were welcomed with balloons and stickers before spending the morning in Creativity Corner enjoying arts, crafts, colouring, dressing up and imaginative play. Leo created a jellyfish, fish and starfish while Alice made an octopus and enjoyed exploring the toys and dressing-up area. We also enjoyed lunch at HOME Bar & Kitchen before heading off to our next adventure. 🎈 Magic Gareth's Balloonatic at Z-arts After leaving HOME, we caught the bus to Z-arts Manchester to see Magic Gareth's Balloonatic. Before the show, Alice and Leo spent time playing on the giant red bus in the foyer before heading into the auditorium. The show was packed with magic, balloons, audience participation and lots of laughs, making it a brilliant family afternoon. 👉 Read my Sarah Monaghan review: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/re... 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos... ♿ Z-arts Access Day & Adventures in Wonderland After Balloonatic, we stayed at Z-arts for their Access Day. The children were determined to visit Adventures in Wonderland first and once they were inside, they loved it so much that I could barely persuade them to leave and try anything else! 🎭 Malory Towers at HOME Manchester Later that evening, Alice and I returned to HOME Manchester for a special mother-and-daughter theatre trip to see Malory Towers. After a full day of family activities, it was lovely spending some one-to-one time together and we both thoroughly enjoyed the show. 👉 Read my Sarah Monaghan review: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/re... 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos... 🎪 We Invented The Weekend Festival at MediaCity On Sunday, Leo and I enjoyed a special mummy-and-son day out at We Invented The Weekend Festival in MediaCity. We explored Play Street, watched performances on the Lowry Plaza Stage, enjoyed lunch at The Lowry, took part in a backstage theatre tour, watched Pirate Taxi and even met Bluey! Leo also enjoyed crafts and colouring in The Lookout before we headed home after a fantastic day together. Meeting Bluey ended up being Leo's favourite part of the entire festival. 🔗 Read More About Our Week If you'd like to read more about our week in detail, you can read my Family Weekly Update blog post here: 👉 https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/fa... If you enjoy family vlogs, theatre trips, UK family days out, Manchester attractions, festivals and real-life family adventures, don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss a new video. 🔗 Related Reviews & Blog Posts HOME Manchester Family Creator Day: Sarah Monaghan: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/a-... All About Theatre: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos... Magic Gareth’s Balloonatic at Z-arts: Sarah Monaghan: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/re... All About Theatre: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos... Adventures in Wonderland at Z-arts: Sarah Monaghan: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/re... Malory Towers at HOME Manchester: All About Theatre: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos... Sarah Monaghan: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/re... We Invented The Weekend Festival: Sarah Monaghan: https://www.sarahmonaghan.com/post/we... All About Theatre: https://www.allabouttheatreuk.com/pos...