Conferences, launches, dinners and weddings for up to 500 standing or 300 seated can be held at Victoria Baths, a Grade II* listed Edwardian swimming baths on Hathersage Road in Manchester. The building offers three pool halls, a sports hall and a series of smaller rooms, all hired out by the trust that looks after it.
Seminars and company events
The commercial hire offer covers conferences, corporate entertainment, product and brand launches, award ceremonies and exhibitions. Guided tours of the building can be added for delegates, which turns a coffee break into a visit of a protected monument. Smaller areas around the pool halls serve as breakout rooms, seminar spaces, display areas or catering points. Festivals and live music events have also used the halls, with organisers building stages or themed sets; past examples include the Independent Manchester Beer Convention and Red Bull Unlocked. All profits from hire go to the Victoria Baths Trust and pay for the upkeep and repair of the building.
Weddings and receptions
Victoria Baths is licensed to host wedding ceremonies and won Best Wedding Venue at the UK Heritage Awards in 2020. The team describes a do-it-yourself approach: couples style the space and choose their own suppliers, within hire terms published for 2026. Spaces along the sides of the pools are set aside for ceremonies, presentations and speeches. Birthday and anniversary parties, bar mitzvahs, proms, reunions, funerals and wakes are also booked.
Rooms and capacities
The Gala Pool takes up to 500 guests and the Sports Hall up to 400. The Females' Pool holds up to 200. The Pineapple Room takes 60, the Turkish Rest Room 50 and the Turkish Hot Rooms 30. Across the whole building, the venue states 500 standing or 300 seated. The old laundry and filter room, with an industrial character, are hired for filming. Ground floor areas are step-free, but there is no built-in step-free access inside the pool areas. Toilets, including family and accessible facilities, are in the Sports Hall. A 3D walkthrough on the venue's site helps with planning a layout before a visit.
Catering
The site does not describe an in-house kitchen. Some of the smaller rooms are used as bars and catering areas during events, and the narrow corridors and small rooms around the halls have served as pop-up bars. Catering arrangements are agreed with the events team at the time of booking, so ask early whether to bring in your own caterer.
History and setting
Victoria Baths opened in 1906 and was then described as the most splendid municipal bathing institution in the country. It served central Manchester for 87 years. The building pairs an Edwardian exterior with Art Nouveau interiors and is often used for television, film, music videos and advertising. Restoration continues under the trust, funded in part by events.
Getting there
The address is Hathersage Road, Manchester M13 0FE, south of the city center. There are 30 on-site parking spaces reserved for accessible and production vehicles, plus one accessible space directly outside, and a dedicated loading access at the rear for production and suppliers. Indoor and outdoor storage is available for builds. Manchester Airport is the nearest airport.
