Billed as an "electrifying new blend of drama, music and dance", Tree has opened at #MIF19. We decided that the best way to figure out how the audience found it was to jump out at them with a camera while they were on their way out from the show, and here's what they thought:

Find out more about this ambitious work over on our website, external, or come see it for yourself: Tree runs daily from now until 13 July.

The entire city has been buzzing about the myth-inspired dance show Alphabus, external, brought to us by legendary choreographer Reggie Grey.

Showcasing some of the most exciting young talent working in the UK today, it's the culmination of a two year collaboration of Reggie Grey's company Flexn with Manchester spoken word collective Young Identity.

One more show left, guys, so don't miss out.

And if you'd like to see a flavour, they performed an impromptu taster in Festival Square yesterday - enjoy!

As part of the works around The Anvil, external today, we’ll be hosting Hopers, a large-scale takeover of Manchester’s biggest digital billboard, in a demand to be heard – giving a larger-than-life voice to the city’s underrepresented youth.

The team have put together an amazing audio piece that shines a light on the voices and intent behind the work, which you can listen to over on the MIF website, external

Image source, MIF

Hopers can be found at:

Axis Tower (billboard) 14 Albion Street, M1 5NZ

The work runs from midday until 17:30 BST

When we said that there's something for everyone at MIF, we weren't kidding - yesterday the CBeebies fan favourite Mr Bloom graced the Festival Square stage, along with an alarmingly wide array of sentient (and to be honest quite witty) vegetables.

If this post has left you utterly confused, it's probably because you're not a four-year-old, so we'll let Mr Bloom do the talking:

We'll be recommending more exciting family picks over the next few weeks here on MIF Live, but this writer's top pick is right at the end of the festival - Animals of Manchester, external, a full takeover of the Whitworth by a host of animals ranging from microbes up to a literal actual real-life cow (who is also the mayor for the day, long story, I'll explain once they're moooooved in). I'll be covering this one for you live with my very own roving correspondents, aged 6 and 4, look out for it.

Thanks, tiddlers!

While the streets of Manchester are filled with noise and activity via ANU (but only for today, be quick!), there's also a more localised but equally noisy takeover happening right here in Festival Square, with some of the returning heroes of the Festival In My House, external programme filling our stage and space from right now until late.

Image source, MIF

Festival In My House is an ongoing series of micro pop-up events facilitated by MIF, but dreamt up and curated by YOU, the public. These have included folk gigs in houses, Bollywood soundclashes (called Curryoke, obviously), a mini African festival and so much more. You can read all about these amazing events right here, external.

Many of the artists and musicians that have been part of this exciting programme return today to take over the whole of Festival Square for live music, pop-ups, mini events, spoken word, dance, and a whole lot more. The sun is shining and we have a ton of surprises lined up - come join us!

Today will see cutting-edge Irish theatre company ANU , externaltake over almost the whole of Manchester city centre, where they'll be presenting and performing 15 brand new artistic interventions in and around the city streets.

From theatre and dance to soundscapes and visual art, this day-long immersion is inspired by those who died at Peterloo – but also by the lives, stories and concerns of those living in Manchester today, from zero-hours contracts to climate change, forging a vital new connection between 1819 and our 21st Century city.

Read more about the project on the MIF website, external

Image source, MIF

The works form a single cohesive whole narrative, but can be viewed out of order and will make sense individually too - we highly recommend grabbing a map from Festival Square and following the journey, taking in as many as you can squeeze in.

Alternatively, check out a digital version of the map right here, external and get stuck in.

ANU are only performing today, so make the most of the sunshine and join in with their thrilling takeover of the city streets. Oh, and we strongly recommend you're at HOME, external at 15:00 BST for... something exciting. We can say no more.

And keep an eye on MIF Live all day today for videos and updates on what ANU are up to.

Our next Creative Lab project is Searching for Utopia by Stephen Davies, who's brought his exciting and often hilarious machinima work to the MIF party.

But... what is machinima? I'm glad you asked! Broadly, machinima, external is the practice of creating video or performance content using videogames - re-purposing engines or assets or games to create entirely new works. A popular example is Red vs Blue, external, (guidance warning: contains very strong language, third party content may contain ads) a complete animated series that's entirely originally scripted but uses the Halo videogame to depict its characters.

Stephen's project takes the form of four episodic videos, and live performance. In his words:

Happily, all four episodes of the series are available to view right here, right now. They're super short, and super lovely:

The final part to this series of work (Stephen's been busy!) is a live event, taking place at the Adelphi Campus at Salford University, at 16:30 BST on 12 July. Free but ticketed, more info here, external.

You can follow Stephen on Twitter, external and Instagram, external.

Last night saw festival headliner Nitin Sawhney, external perform live on the Festival Square stage, with a full live band, in front of an absolutely packed tent. This intrepid author was front and centre for it, and what a set it was.

Here's the view from the crowd:

Nitin Sawhney, MIF19 thanks you! Let's do it again sometime.

Good morning, Manchester International Festival!

It is day four of our lovely festival, the sun is STILL shining, and we have so much in store for you today. Was anyone else at Nitin Sawhney, external last night? Incredible scenes.

Image source, MIF

Alright! So, our first highlight today is the Festival In My House takeover, happening all day in Festival Square, external- we've got it on good authority that every single second of the day there today will be filled with music, performance, noise and colour (and of course a few surprises, some of them so secret that not even we know about them!) It's looking like a beautiful sunny day for it, remember to stay hydrated.

Our second pick of the day is ANU, external, who are unleashing their incredible series of pop-up theatre, performance, installation and general exciting happenings around The Anvil. This will be taking place all over the city, but only for today, so take advantage and try to catch it - you can grab a map at Festival Square and find performances all over the city. Our hot tip: be outside HOME at 15:00 BST. You'll know when it happens, and we'll be there too.

Image source, MIF

We also heartily recommend catching Alphabus, external while you can, there are two performances of it today (at 15:00 and 20:00 BST) and the response to it has been incredible. We're going to see it today too, and are very excited.

We've also got a ton of content lined up for you right here on MIF Live - we'll be going behind the scenes at Utopolis, external, sharing more of our wonderful Creative Lab projects, and pulling together some of the best reviews and photos from the last few days.

Get out there!

We're definitely ready for bed after a jam packed day of talks from Interdependence and David Lynch, wrapped up by dancing to the legendary Nitin Sawhney at Festival Square.

Join us back here tomorrow for coverage of The Anvil, external and the Festival In My House Takeover all day.

Day three: done!

Live stream from MIF19 begins at 20:00 BST. You can watch below or directly on YouTube, external

On the opening day of My Head is Disconnected, external, the first major UK exhibition of visual art by David Lynch, curator Sarah Perks hosts an in-conversation via live video link with Lynch covering his diverse artistic practice, from his iconic film and TV work to his paintings, drawings and sculptures.

The focus of the event will be your questions - if you would like to be in with a chance of David answering your question, tweet it with the hashtag #AskDavidLynch

Read more about David Lynch at HOME, external

That's a wrap for the first day of Interdependence at MIF19, and we're feeling cautiously optimistic! We'd like to say another huge thank you to all of our speakers as well as host Zing Tsjeng, facilitators Girl Gang and set designer Hardeep Pandhal.

We'll be back with more Interdependence events next Saturday including full coverage of Future Myths, live from Manchester's Albert Hall.

One of the performers in this year's Alphabus, external, a meshing of unique street dance and spoken word, Isaiah Hull is a phenomenal performer and poet.

In the last year alone, he's supported Kate Tempest, Lemn Sissay and Skepta at major events for the BBC. And he’s just 19. Thanks for showing us all up, Isaiah.

Alphabus is on until Sunday - watch below:

Today is the opening day of David Lynch's, external cross-discipline retrospective exhibition and gig series at Manchester's centre for international contemporary art, theatre and film, HOME. The exhibition spans his entire body of work across screen, music, painting and beyond.

Image source, MIF

Tonight is the launch event, where David will be joining via video stream - he'll be taking questions from the audience and you'll be able to send some in too, look out for our live stream page later today on MIF Live where you can watch live and follow along. Info about the full run can be found here, external.

David Lynch at HOME is open from today until September at HOME MCR, external, and we have a number of live shows and screenings connected to is during MIF19. We'll be talking about this show a lot more on MIF Live in the coming days, but join us tonight with the man himself for the launch of this exciting exhibition series.

Ibrahim Mahama's Parliament of Ghosts, external is a major installation at The Whitworth, reflecting on the half-forgotten history of Mahama’s home country, Ghana, whose journey from British colony to independent nation was completed barely sixty years ago.

To close off the first day of Interdependence, Ibrahim Mahama is with Whitworth director Alistair Hudson. Together they are exploring the importance of art having an 'operational' role in working to correct, rather than simply observe, the world's problems.

Image source, MIF

The stage is packed for our busiest panel of the day, as we hear from three organisations stoking quiet revolutions in their local communities.

Homebaked, external is cooperative bakery and community land trust in Liverpool, where all assets and land remain in control of the local community.

Advocacy Academy, external are building genuinely affordable housing in south London, tested against the average salary of the local area.

Something & Son, external are an art and design collective who are working toward a community-built tower block in Manchester, also working with the community land trust model that has worked so well for Homebaked.

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

We're absolutely honoured to welcome Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, climate justice champion and, more recently, podcast host with the Mothers of Invention, external.

Mary is joined by international human rights lawyer Tessa Khan, whose organisation successfully sued the Dutch government in 2015 over inadequate commitments to reducing carbon emissions.

While the discussion was a powerful, urgent missive on the rising need for serious action, there was still the similar sense of optimism and hope that's been a common theme throughout the whole day.

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, performer, composer, and let's be real here: a fantastic twitter follow, external - the legendary Nitin Sawhney, external is joining the party at MIF19 this evening. We are beyond excited.

Image source, MIF

His body of work is a wonder - from the seminal 1999 classic Beyond Skin, external, through to soundtracking the likes of the astonishing recent Mowgli, external, being awarded an Ivor Novello, external lifetime achievement award, oh and a CBE from the Queen - need we go on?

As ever, his show will be right in the heart of Festival Square, and will cost you precisely zero pounds to attend - as it should be. Check out the full Festival Square lineup for the full 18 day festival here, external.

Nitin Sawhney plays at 21:00, and we will absolutely see you down there.

From rejecting nostalgia to creating spaces of hope, the first panel of the afternoon has been a fascinating insight into the evolution of rave culture, collective activism and how to recover a sense of optimism.

Image source, MIF

Can we just take a moment to appreciate these incredible backdrops created by artist Hardeep Pandhal? Each panel is a giant lenticular hologram (just like you used to get in cereal boxes!), so the image transforms as you walk around the room.

Catch Hardeep at the third and final Interdependence on Saturday 20 July, where he'll be talking more about this work with Paloma Dawkins and Dan Hett.