Manchester Animation Festival 2026: What to Look Forward to at This Year's Event
By Alex Gilston - November 7, 2026
It’s that time of year again, one of the biggest events in the Manchester cinematic calendar has almost arrived. Manchester Animation Festival is back from 8th-12th November at HOME Manchester. There are so many things to look forward to with five days of films, panels, industry events, and fun activities. There really is something for everyone and here are some of the things you can look forward to.
Huge Animated Previews
On the 8th November at 10:25 you can catch Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s adaptation of Dr Seuss’s acclaimed story The Cat In The Hat. It’s a chance to catch the madcap adventure a whole month before it releases to general audiences in the UK. You will also have the opportunity to catch legendary animation director Brad Bird’s latest feature Ray Gunn on the big screen before it comes to Netflix closer to Christmas. The futuristic neo noir will be showing at the festival on the 10th November at 13:40.
A real Christmas treat awaits festival attendees as Channel 4 presents a special preview of Mog’s Bad Thing. On the 8th November at 14:00 you can catch this special Christmas adventure alongside an insightful Q&A with creatives including Adam Jackson-Nocher, Camilla Deakin, and John Thomson. There is also a chance to catch award winning animation studio Cartoon Saloon’s newest feature film Julián. Based on the book Julián is a Mermaid, this technicolor oceanic dream is showing at HOME Manchester on 11th November at 18:00.
An Eclectic Shorts Programme
As well as a huge array of animated features Manchester Animation Festival also boasts some interesting short programmes dotted across the five days of the festival. You can get a look at some of the animated shorts playing in competition at the festival in Animation Mixtape 1 on 9th November at 10:30. The festival proudly showcases new voices in the industry in a student based programme called New Animated Voices showing on 9th November at 12:15.
You can take the family to a shorts programme directed just for kids in Short Films For Children on 10th November at 16:00. Skwigly animation magazine is at the festival to present an offering of shorts made by people in their animation community on 11th November at 19:00.
Special Behind The Scenes Panels
Manchester Animation Festival is about way more than just the films on offer there are a plethora of Q&A's and behind the scenes talks with amazing industry professionals. Get a deep dive look into the making of The Cat In The Hat with DFX supervisor Jean-Francois Leroux to discuss how DNEG brought the world of Dr Suess’s invention to life. You can join animators Tom Carey and Amy Greenspan to talk about working at Laika to bring the world of Wildwood to life.
Sir Peter Lord, Natalie McKay, and Will Becher join Manchester Animation Festival from legendary stop-motion studio Aardman to talk about the past fifty years in a very special panel. As well as discussing the studios’ storied past they will give an insight into what the studio has to look forward to in the future.
The Fun Doesn’t Stop There
There is so much more to discover at Manchester Animation Festival there are workshops, social events, and more industry talks to sink your teeth into. There’s a live drawing challenge, a Skwigly quiz, networking event, character design and storyboarding workshops, and much much more.
If you want to find out more, take a look at the full programme, and buy tickets you can go to their website: https://www.manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk/
Manchester Animation Festival runs from 8th-12th November at HOME Manchester, with a virtual offering from the 13th November.
For more features, reviews, and deep dives into film and TV, keep it locked to Film Focus Online.
Alex Gilston
Senior Writer
Alex is a film critic, and self confessed Disney expert. His passion for film is huge, so to be able to write and talk about them is a personal dream of his.
Want your film or TV show reviewed by Alex? Contact us.
