Thank you for joining us this last 18 days and for making the festival a success. Scroll back to remember some of the higlights of MIF 2017 and see you in 2019!
Manchester International Festival ran from 29 June and 16 July 2017
Talk to us @mifestival on twitter & mcrintfestival on Facebook
Cotton Panic!
Director of Visuals Chris Turner has been snapping away as the Cotton Panic!, external team, Nick Vivian, Jane Horrocks and Wrangler, prepare to open the show on Saturday. It's looking pretty spectacular, and Nick has shared some photos with us!
Image source, Chris TurnerRehearsals for Cotton Panic!
Image source, Chris TurnerRehearsals for Cotton Panic!
Max & Ivan, Emma Sidi, Birthday Girls, Brian Gittins - go go go!
You won't find a better comedy programme in Manchester this year, nab the final tickets while you can...
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Lemn Sissay investigates in Party Skills For The End Of The World
You get the vibrato by shaking your leg, of course...
Party Skills For The End Of The World is a show in abandoned university buildings
Learn more about our apocalyptic, thoroughly immersive party show Party Skills For The End Of The World, external
New Order play tonight - could you be there?
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Festival Square
As seen in Albert Square. We can't promise anything.
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New Order
Legendary electro-pioneers New Order have been smashing their sell-out gigs, so we only thought it fair we give you a bit of insight into how they've constructed them:
New Order have optimised the sound of Manchester for decades
Arcade Fire
With guest vocalist David Bowie (who loved the track so much he threatened to steal it, external), Reflecktor is Arcade Fire at their best - full to the brim with funky strut and pure class. Even if you're not at tonight's Castlefield gig, you can still find a way to pay homage to the globally loved oddballs...
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Returning to Reims
The world can feel like a confusing place, politically. Working with Homeland's Nina Hoss, German Director Thomas Ostermeier grapples with some of the biggest questions facing us today.
Returning to Reims: Director Thomas Ostermeier talks about his commission with #mif17
Quote Message"We're talking about phenomenons we're all facing, all over Europe, in the States and all over the world. What I'm doing in theatre is questioning myself, questioning my view on things and trying to have a deeper analysis."
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Manchester Street Poem
From today onwards, you'll be able to see Karl Hyde (who is all over our festival this year, also composing for Fatherland) create an ode to Manchester's homeless community in his project Manchester Street Poem.
Pop into Unfear in the Northern Quarter every day from 10am-6pm, external to see his enormous canvas, created this morning with the help of our volunteers - it will slowly be filled as he creates an enormous poem through the remainder of the festival, giving these often lost voices a spotlight. You can also watch it being created live right here , external- as we stream the entire thing.
Image source, MIFNew Order definitely aren't going to play Blue Monday
So what are they playing at their sell-out festival gig?
Listen below, and find out for yourself:
6Music get audience reactions to the show as part of 2017 MIF
There's no point trying to get tickets, but what you can do is visit our True Faith exhibition, external, exploring the legacy of New Order and Joy Division
Dogs of Festival Square
We always want to hear from our audiences, and situated within the gloriously sunny Albert Square, we interrupted Lola to get her view on how the festival's going so far.
Image source, MIFName: Lola
Breed: Poodle
Age: 7
Top Tip:
Quote MessageFatherland is the show of the festival for me, it's truly breathtaking in its scope - a heartrending exploration of modern masculinity, of legacy, and what it means to return home.
Lola, Poodle
Thanks Lola, now, get back to your critical theory MA.
Anna Meredith on composing for a lift
Anna Meredith has had one of our more unusual spaces to compose for: a lift landing between a Marks & Spencers and a Selfridges.
How do you go about composing for that? She tells us everything...
Anna Meredith tells us about her Music For a Busy City composition process
Find out more about her composition, and all the secret music we've hidden around Manchester as part of Music For A Busy City, external
#creative50
Jon Howard
MIF17 Creative50
Image source, MIFWhat does it mean to be a father? Why do so many fathers keep their emotions hidden? How do fathers perceive their responsibilities?
FatherlandFlow , external- created by brilliant #creative50 artist Jon Howard - seeks to unpick meaning in the role of the father. Taken from original interviews used to create Fatherland, hundreds of words of dialogue have been analysed, and connections generated in an fully interactive web experience.
Explore the themes of fatherhood, find hidden connections and uncover meaning for yourself - all you need to do is dive into the cloud., external
As the journeys taken by users cross paths the system will generate Tweets on the most connected themes for each day - you can follow the flow here.
Fatherland Flow is a #Creative50 response by Jon Howard (@swingpants, external) to Fatherland, external, the bold new show by Scott Graham, Karl Hyde and Simon Stephens.
True Faith
Listening to New Order on Radio 6's Radcliffe and Maconie?
Look, you may not have a ticket for tonight's show (it sold out so very long ago) the good news is you can see the amazing exhibition True Faith, external - exploring the on-going legacy of Joy Division & New Order - every day until the 16th July absolutely free.
Learn more below, and plan a visit to the Manchester Art Gallery.
True Faith explores the ongoing legacy of New Order and Joy Division
Paleman: listen right now
Tonight we welcome Paleman to Gorilla, external as part of our Dark Matter gigs, curated by Mary Anne Hobbs.
Merging the worlds of electronic and jazz, his work is utterly hypnotic and totally unique. Have a listen to his Soundcloud, and get immersed.
#mif17 trailer for Paleman (part of the Dark Matter Series)
6 Music
Live right here from 1pm, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie will be speaking to New Order, Karl Hyde, Stealing Sheep and the artist Phil Collins about everything they're getting up to at this year's festival.
Rest up, Stuart. It's all kicking off soon.
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BBC Radio 4
In the run-up to this year's festival we invited local residents to hold tiny arts festivals in their own homes - one such resident did exactly that, and will tell us all about it right now, on BBC Radio 4.
She'll speak to others who hosted their own festival in their houses - from a Parisian post-punk band, a spoken word celebration and a classical music event. Listen above, and learn how to bring the spirit of the festival to your very own home...
Image source, MIFOur very own home, Festival Square
#creative50
Jenny Gaskell
MIF17 Creative50
Inspired by What If Women Ruled The World?, When Teenage Girls Rule The World is a specially created manifesto by and for the teenagers of Manchester - curated by brilliant local #Creative50 artists Jenny Gaskell and Anna Horton.
It's hard to pick out favourite lines, but we do think 'We have loud souls and great ambitions' is worth sharing:
Image source, MIFQuote MessageOur manifesto was created in workshop with local teenagers, to support a group of women who are often told what to do – by family, school and the media. They are at a vital age in which it is time to write their own rules.
Jenny Gaskell, Artist
Learn more: @JenniferGaskell & @AnnaKHorton
Your round-up of the day's sweet events
Image source, MIFManchester Street Poem, by Karl Hyde
It's been exactly one week since we opened this year's festival with our Piccadilly Square runway celebrating the people of Manchester, and we're officially in full swing. We've got gigs, shows, exhibitions, pizza, excellent photos of dogs and plenty more.
So, what's on the agenda for today?
We're opening a few brand new shows today, including Manchester Street Poem - an installation by Fatherland composer Karl Hyde, as he live-paints an ode to Manchester's homeless , externalin the centre of the city.
Also new is legendary dance spectacular Available Light, external over at The Lowry, and we have a one-night-only multimedia extravaganza Last And First Men , external(narrated by Tilda Swinton) at the Bridgewater Hall.
New Order return, external to knock it out of the park once again, external, and our runs of world exclusives Fatherland, external, Returning To Reims, external and What If Women Ruled The World?, external are all on their second day.
Tonight, we welcome Manchester electronic pioneer Paleman, external to Gorilla, as well as Caribbean jazz-fusers Bokanté., external
Whew. Any questions?
See today's full programme right here , external- there's plenty more to see.
Simon Green back on beloved home-turf
Simon Green - aka Bonobo - brought his fully orchestrated show to us last night for one night only. Check out him and his amazing band Sandunes, as they elevated the beautiful Manchester Cathedral to new heights.
Image source, MIF
Image source, MIF
Image source, MIF
Image source, MIF
Image source, MIF