Michelle Hussey and Natalie-Eve Williams are broadcasting live from Albert Square, with songs, clips, interviews and everything you need to know about the next few weeks - just hit play at the top of the page.

If you head down to Albert Square tonight, you can expect to see a host of creative talent, food, drink, music and more atmosphere than you can shake a fairy light at.

House Gospel , externalare playing right this second, bringing spiritual euphoria to our beloved Pavilion Theatre, and soon we'll be welcoming Tim Burgess to our outdoor stage.

Can't make it? Dry those tears, stick on our Tim Burgess playlist and question your Saturday night choices...

Tara Collette
MIF17 Creative 50

Local artist Tara Collette is creating a beautiful MIF GIF every day of the festival - today, she's focussed on Home1947, external.

You can take a look at the whole series here, external, and watch it build as the festival goes on...

Image source, MIF

In case a festival full of brand new work wasn’t enough, we’ve also commissioned 50 brilliant local artists to create digital artwork in response to this year’s programme.

We’ll be showcasing cutting-edge work across a whole roster of digital arts - from projection and soundscapes and video to data visualisation.

We'll be posting them all here on the BBC - embracing new mediums of expression and opening up work from this festival to those who can't be in Manchester over the next few weeks.

Follow our progress: #creative50

Keith Myers
MIF17 Creative 50

Video artist Keith Myers is one of our brilliant local artists commissioned to create digital work in response to our festival - and has produced an amazing 360° time-lapse of our spectacular opening.

Make sure to view from every angle - and live the experience for yourself:

Shot by: kmyersfilm.co.uk Twitter: @kmyersfilm, external Music courtesy of: Gymnast'. Twitter: @gymnastband, external www.gymnastband.com

New Order in full, spectacular action, with accompanying light show designed by brilliant conceptual artist Liam Gillick.

Take a look before anyone else:

Having walked our runway in our opening show What Is The City But The People? poet and broadcaster will be taking a cultural tour of Manchester, with exclusive rehearsal and backstage footage from our most hotly anticipated shows.

That's BBC 2, from 8pm tonight - don't miss it!

Unity Radio are going to spend the next hour playing artists from this year's programme, external - and it's exclusively where you can hear part 2 of Samson Young's beautiful radio series One Of Two Stories Or Both, external, live at 6:30pm.

Sit back, sink into Saturday night festival atmosphere, and enjoy. , external

And that wraps up our Interdependence: We Need To Talk About Heroes stream! Interdependence will be back next Saturday , externalwith more speakers, opinions and debate.

In the meantime, join us here at 6:30pm, we'll be linking to the 2nd part of our beautiful radio series One Of Two Stories, Or Both. , external

Image source, MIF

We kicked off our festival with our city-wide spectacular What Is The City But The People?, and we have a couple more shows in public spaces to come.

We'll live streaming them all right here on the BBC, which means no matter where you are in the world, you can join the public celebrations. Which we think is pretty cool.

Image source, MIF

ToGather, external

Sunday 9th July

From 1pm

Bringing together local residents originally from 15 different countries including Iran, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Pakistan, ToGather will be a poetic exploration of movement, migration and separation - featuring dancers from Studio Wayne McGregor. Expect music, food, and a glorious sense of community.

Image source, MIF

Ceremony, external

Sunday 16th July

You may or may not know Freidrich Engles as the co-author of the Communist Manifesto, but he is returning to Manchester in statue form - and Turner-nominated artist Phil Collins has been documenting the journey.

The finale of the festival will be the creation of a live film by the artists and people of Manchester as this statue reaches its final destination - mixing documented footage with live music, drama, sound and spectacle. It really will be like nothing else.

A lovely run-down of events from I Love Manchester - take a look and save your money for another round in Festival Square...

"Oh sure, I've got a couple of tickets for something you might like..."

There's nothing better than picking a brilliant night out for someone you want to impress. Luckily for you, we've got all the coolest shows, and we're going to tell you exactly who to bring.

Get ready to become the most popular person you know.

Image source, MIF

Dark Matter, external

The show: A series of wild, anarchic, forward-thinking gigs curated by Radio 6 legend Mary Anne Hobbs. Pioneering electronica, DJ sets and sublime light shows featuring the mega-stars of tomorrow

Who to bring: Your 'I'm too cool for this' friend - the one who knows every tiny gig space in Manchester, the who went off in a huff when you suggested going to see Take That. This will show them.

Image source, MIF

Party Skills For The End Of The World, external

The Show: An anarchic, interactive, fully immersive show that combines cocktail making with instructions on how to skin a rabbit. Whatever the end of the world throws at you, you'll be ready.

Who to take: Your Dystopian Fiction Pal - you know the one, obsessed with the Hunger Games, convinced a zombie apocalypse is just around the corner, who doesn't drink tap water 'just in case'. Finally, a way to get them out of the bunker - er, we mean, house.

Image source, MIF

Cotton Panic!, external

The Show: A dynamic, innovative new musical created by and starring Jane Horrocks, about the industrial crisis that befell the North Of England during the cotton famine

Who to take: Literally any Northern family member. If there's one thing we northerners love, it's dwelling on our tragic past. If show-tunes can be included, all the better.

Image source, MIF

Music For A Busy City, external

The Show: 6 composers take new works out of the concert hall, and put them in surprising places all around Manchester - from shopping centres to town halls - for residents to stumble across them in their day to day life.

Who to take: The 'I don't really do theatre' pal. They don't want to spend a few hours in a darkened room? Well with this, they don't have to. Pack a few sandwiches, put your walking shoes on, and seek our brand new music at your own pace.

Image source, MIF

What If Women Ruled The World?, external

The Show: In a war room, a group of 11 women will be confronted by some of the urgent crises of our time. Each night, a professional cast will be joined on stage by a different group of female experts: scientists, politicians, activists and thinkers of global reputation. Can we come up with new solutions?

Who to bring: Your shoutiest activist friend - if you can pull them away from the latest protest. It'll be a night of amazing discussion, debate and forward-thinking from some of the leading lights across many professions - perfect.

Whet your appetite? Take a look at the full programme, external, there's bound to be something perfect, no matter which companion you choose.

Audiences are beginning to experience the wildly immerse Party Skills At The End OF The World, and though we can't give much away, we can always share your reactions...

For the final hour, we'll be watching an experiment, curated by Future Everything, adding two notable, unsung women to wikipedia - will they succeed in an hour? Keep tuned to our livestream to find out...

Matthew Herbert chose the Great Northern building for his Music For A Busy City commission - looking at the balance of the industrial, electronic, of work and of play in these great buildings.

Learn more in our exclusive video, then go and seek out the music for yourself... , external

Anyone who just listened to Sharmeen Obid-Chinoy talk about her new exhibition Home1947 - this is for you.

Tonight The Lowry plays host to beautiful and soulful Indian singer Harshdeep Kaur, alonside stunning images from the Home1947 exhibition.

In Urdu and Punjabi, 'Sangam' means 'to come together, to meet' - and its this spirit this night is hoping to encapsulate.

Learn more about Sangam 2017, external

We're close to sharing all the exclusive photos from our opening party Drunk At Vogue last night, but for now, enjoy this taster...

Image source, MIF

Were you there? Share your photos @MIFestival, and we'll post our favourites...

Welcoming to the stage, Yael Bartana. A brilliant Israeli-born artist whose work explored identity and the politics of memory.

She's bringing an ambitious new art experiment What If Women Ruled The World?, external to this year's festival - a call for a redefinition of heroism by bringing together diverse, ordinary women to try and solve some of today's greatest challenges...

Image source, MIF

BBC Arts

The BBC Arts team have compiled some of the standout events from this year's packed festival programme, external - many of which will be streamed live on this page over the next 18 days.

From the opening spectacular What is the City but the People? to the innovative theatre work Cotton Panic! starring Jane Horrocks, click here to check out the list.

Image source, MIF

It's our first weekend in Manchester, and if you've any sense at all you'll head to Albert Square for drinks, sun, music, food and much more.

Here's just a taste of the action - see you there.

Delicious food