What’s on at Liverpool Museums this February

If you’re looking to celebrate cultural heritage, unleash your creativity, or maybe dive into the wonders of nature and space, then this one’s for you!

National Museums Liverpool has an incredible lineup of events, exhibitions, and workshops for visitors of all ages this February.

Lunar New Year 

Lunar New Year celebrations begin with Lady Lever Art Gallery’s annual celebration (Saturday February 15) of the gallery’s astonishing Chinese collections and Wirral’s Chinese community.  

Festivities include fascinating talks about the Lunar New Year and the legend of the Zodiac Race with BBC Merseyside’s Billy Hui, Chinese Ney Year Card Craft Workshops and beautiful dances in traditional dress from the Wirral Chinese Cultural Association dance group. 

At the waterfront, Museum of Liverpool will host Little Lion Dance Workshops (Saturday February 15) with China Spirit UK! Grab the family and join the team as they explain the history and tradition of the Chinese Lion while children learn how to work the life size puppets and learn the rhythm on the traditional Lion Dance drum.  

LGBTQ+ History Month 

February also marks the start of LGBTQ+ History Month, where Museum of Liverpool will host a variety of exhibitions, workshops and events that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.  

Running until July, The Holly Johnson Story explores Holly’s creative genius and marks the 40th anniversary release of Frankie Goes to Hollywood album, ‘Welcome to the Pleasuredome’.

This exhibition charts Holly’s early personal life and career, from a young musician to an internationally renowned, openly gay star, living in the public eye. Dealing with the price of fame, coping with an HIV+ diagnosis and unwanted negative press, whilst going it alone as a monumental LGBTQ+ icon. 

Discover more about one of Liverpool’s most celebrated and iconic LGBTQ+ musicians by booking on to The Holly Johnson Story curator tours hosted by one of the museum’s expert exhibition curators.   

A lot of Holly Johnson’s work has used, played with, and celebrated queer codes that would have been recognisable to LGBTQ+ people but not always to everyone. You can learn more about this by heading to Queer Codes: Polari and Hidden ‘Gay Language’ Workshop (Saturday February 23) where participants will actively take part in creating pieces using Polari, considering why Holly and countless others in the past had to use hidden meaning and think about what those gestures, languages, and images look like today.  

Unleash your creativity by visiting “Queer Sew and Sew” Embroidery workshop (Saturday 15 February). Whether you’re a needlework novice or an embroidery enthusiast, this fun and inclusive workshop is the perfect place to express yourself and make new friends. 

Nature and science at World Museum

Running (or buzzing) at World Museum until May 2025, Bees: A Story of Survival is an immersive exhibition that brings together art and science to explore one of nature’s most incredible creatures – the bee. Journey into the fascinating world of bees in ways that have never been experienced before. A soundscape connects you to a live beehive, constantly changing in response to the activity of the colony.

Discover the wonder of these tiny creatures through interactives, sculpture, projection and light and even better, kids under 11 go free. 

Ever wanted to know what it takes to look after all the amazing animals in the World Museum aquarium? Why not book onto a Behind the Scenes Guided Aquarium Tours for a deep dive look at the back of house facilities to see how they look after the animals in their care.  

Cuerpos del Tiempo (Bodies of Time) is a new collaborative project in partnership with Luma Creations, the leading Latin American Cultural organisation in the north of England and is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund. This initiative will engage Latin American communities across the North West of England to help reshape the interpretation of the museum’s Latin American collections for display in 2025-2026.  

To celebrate the beginning of this exciting partnership, World Museum will host a launch event (Saturday 15 February) featuring a series of talks, dance and live music performances, craft workshops and a chance to speak to the curators of the Global Collections as well as the Luma Creations team. 

Blast off to space with one of World Museum’s Planetarium shows– a dream come true for stargazers! Whether you’re a budding astronomer or simply want to marvel at the incredible universe we call home, this programme of planetarium shows has something for the whole family. 

Open to the public Wednesday- Sunday The Clore Natural History Exploration Space offers the chance to get up and close with some of our incredible collections.  

Art and creativity at Walker Art Gallery

Conversations is an ambitious exhibition that brings together work by around 40 leading Black women and non-binary artists who are transforming contemporary British art today. 

This exhibition asks poignant questions about the present and aims to provide a moment of celebration and joy centred around artists working in the UK. Conversations includes paintings, sculpture and video from the last ten years, with many works selected for display by the artist themselves. 

Stitching Souls: Threads of Silence is an installation by British Trinidadian artist Karen McLean andcomprises of 132 heads created with authentic African fabrics using traditional quilting techniques. Made in partnership with a community of sewers in the artist’s home city of Birmingham, the work honours and memorialises the enslaved African people who lost their lives in the Zong Massacre (1781).   

With an incredible lineup of events, workshops, and exhibitions, February at National Museums Liverpool is set to be a month of celebration, education, and inspiration.  

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool here.

Discover more events across the city region here.