MIF's artistic director and CEO John McGrath has opened the day at Interdependence, it's a slightly rainy morning but Manchester has certainly turned out - the room is full!

And we're off. Thanks, John!

Image source, MIF

Your friendly neighbourhood live team is at the first of our three Interdependence, external sessions, this time at the beautiful Whitworth.

Image source, MIF

We'll be doing some light coverage here today on MIF Live, digging into the speakers and themes and chucking in a few photos and videos as we get them. We'll also be pointing you at further reading and more info on our speakers.

Later today we'll be sharing the highlights of the day in video form, as a bite-sized roundup of everything we got up to today.

Get the kettle on and settle in for Interdependence!

Goooood morning MIF!

Welcome to Day 3 of the Manchester International Festival. It's the weekend, the schedule is packed, the stages are set, and your tireless editorial team have a veritable smorgasbord (yeah you heard me) of content lined up for you today.

What's on the agenda? Let us be your guide.

Image source, MIF

It's a busy day for commissions, with Tree, external, Invisible Cities, external, Parliament of Ghosts, external and Alphabus, external all rolling on through the weekend.

Tania Bruguera's amazing School of Integration, external is now at full tilt, running all festival at the Manchester Art Gallery.

Feeling a little more indoorsy? Hey, we got you. Give our new festival games commission a whirl, Paloma Dawkin's superb Songs of the Lost, external. Free to play on Mac or PC right now, headphones recommended.

Festival Square is also tip top this weekend, with performances lined up from the likes of Nitin Sawhney, Chunky and Mr Bloom (omg!). Check out the full lineup here, external.

Today is also the first of our three Interdependence, external events, which you can still attend or follow along with live right here on MIF Live. The next two will be on the remaining weekends over the festival, if you wish to become enlightened by the know-how and experience of our amazing speakers.

Image source, MIF

Finally, the inimitable David Lynch says hello to Manchester for the first time, his exhibition opens at HOME today, external. Again we'll be covering the opening event live right here, and the exhibition will be open from today until September.

What a day we have lined up. Remember to stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, and if you see us running around at high speed looking stressed, do give us a wave. Enjoy the day!

Right! That takes us to the end of the second exciting day of the Manchester International Festival, as we head into what is set to be a gloriously sunny weekend, with an action-packed schedule.

Join us tomorrow for Interdependence and David Lynch Alphabus and and and... just be there, okay? For now, we're signing off, recharging both our devices and ourselves, and generally making sure our war faces are on for tomorrow.

Day two: done!

Image source, MIF

Last night Yoko Ono's creation BELLS FOR PEACE saw Manchester's Cathedral Gardens flooded with hundreds of people, ringing out bells in the name of peace, togetherness and unity.

With 4,000 bells made specially for the event, the weather miraculously behaving well and an eruption of Give Peace A Chance within the crowds, it was a surreal, beautiful and - let's be clear - extremely loud experience.

You can watch the whole thing on iPlayer right now, or on your connected TV under the iPlayer Arts category.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and MIF19 is in full swing! We're spoiled for choice at the festival right now, so to make life easier here are our top five things to see and do at MIF this weekend.

1 - Get FlexN at Alphabus

Reggie 'Regg Roc' Gray joins Young Identity for a brand new show, external at MIF19. This one will be special, check it out:

2 - Play festival videogame Songs Of The Lost

The sun is shining, but if you're more of an indoors type (I am too, shh) then why not give Songs Of The Lost, external a whirl. It's out now, free on Mac and PC.

3 - Say hello to David Lynch

The godfather of weird opens his show at HOME tomorrow evening, and his work will be on display there until September. Find out more, external.

4 - Experience some live street theatre with ANU

The sunshine is the perfect excuse to enjoy one of our more adventurous artworks, a series of explosive new street theatre works by legendary Irish theatre company ANU. This is only happening on Sunday, so make the most of it and enjoy a truly unique take on theatre and installation. Lots more information on this here., external

Image source, MIF

5 - Check out Interdependence

Interdependence is MIF's ongoing festival sort-of-conference series, the first of which - Future Myth - happens tomorrow. The best part is - if you can't make it, you can refer to this very website for rolling commentary and coverage of the whole thing. More info here, external.

Image source, MIF

Abida Parveen returns once more to Manchester for tonight's sold-out show at the Lowry, external, having passed into festival legend with her transcendent performance at MIF13.

The reviews at the time, external said it all:

Abida is rightly hailed as the queen of Sufi music, and her work spans not only decades but also languages - she performs in Arabic, Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki, Punjabi, and Persian, all within the same show.

Her UK visits are extremely rare, and tonight's show promises to be truly something special - we'll be bringing you photos and reviews tomorrow, and if you were lucky enough to grab a ticket, enjoy!

Festival Square is officially open for business today, and with it comes the opening of our absolutely jam-packed schedule of live music events.

Image source, MIF

Over the coming days our stage will be graced by the likes of Nitin Sawhney, external, DJ Yoda, external, Riot Jazz, external and erm, Mr Bloom (hey, some of us have small humans who also have keen musical interests, OK?)

Tonight we're joined by the Manchester School of Samba, external who'll be making all the noise from 17:30-19:00 BST, followed by House of Ghetto, external from 20:00-22:00, rounded off by the legendary DJ Paulette , externalfrom 22:00 until late.

Of course our food and drink vendors are standing by to keep you powered up for throwing shapes. In fact, our very own live producer Dan is valiantly attempting to eat one of everything available in the square over the festival in his EIGHTEEN EXTRAORDINARY PLATES thread over on Twitter. What a guy:

See you down there!

Hoping to soak up the legendary Manchester sun, take in some shows and ideally not spend all your money in the process? We've got your back.

This year's festival is packed with amazing shows, gigs, installations and exhibitions, and if you're on a budget, we've got a plan for you.

So, what exactly can you get out of these next 18 days when you've got nothing but a button in your pocket and a smile on your face?

We pick out some of our favourites...

Festival Square

Image source, MIF

Where: Albert Square

When: Throughout the festival

Why? It's like a holiday, but you're not even paying for it

The central hub of the whole business, our very own Festival Square , external(located at Albert Square) is housing a whole programme of gigs absolutely free - with performances from artists including Nitin Sawhney, House Gospel Choir, Stealing Sheep, DJ Yoda and Swing Ting.

No need to book, just wander in and soak it all up. Splendid.

Parliament Of Ghosts

Image source, MIF

Where: The Whitworth Gallery

When: Friday 5 July - Sunday 21 July

Why? It'll be beautiful, moving and properly important.

This is Ghanian artist Ibrahim Mahama's first UK show, presenting a monumental Parliament to Ghana's half-forgotten history built using old school cabinets, worn train seats, and other scrapped objects.

David Lynch At Home: My Head Is Disconnected

Image source, HOME

Where: HOME

When: Saturday 6 July - Sunday 29 September

Why? This is your chance to see inside the brain that created Twin Peaks. Why wouldn't you?

Visionary director David Lynch is taking over the entirety of HOME, external for the duration of the festival with events, screenings and q&as, and his exhibition My Head Is Disconnected, external is open to all.

It's his first ever major UK exhibition, and with photographs, sculptures and paintings, and any fan of Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead or just Lovely Weird Stuff has absolutely no excuse.

Animals Of Manchester (including humanz)

Image source, MIF

Where: Saturday 20 July - Sunday 21 July

When: The Whitworth and Whitworth Park

Why? Guys, there's going to be a film studio run by beetles. BEETLES.

Rounding out the festival, and absolutely perfect for families, we have the completely ridiculous Animals Of Manchester, external. A fully interactive two days of madness, there’ll be a university where dogs do the teaching, an edible Arndale Centre for squirrels and birds, a conference of animals led by a cow and much, much more. We can't wait.

Songs Of The Lost

Image source, MIF

Where: Anywhere!

When: Anytime!

Why? The beautiful visuals, the gorgeous soundtrack, and the fact that you can experience it from the comfort of your sofa.

You're not here? No problem! Songs of the Lost , externalis a new game created specifically for the festival by Canadian games designer Paloma Dawkins. With a shape-shifting soundtrack by Jlin, it's a magic-realist odyssey and one heck of strange and beautiful adventure. You can play the game here - and make sure you tell us what you think on Twitter @MIFestival, external.

School Of Integration

Image source, MIF

Where: Manchester Art Gallery

When: Friday 5 July - Saturday 20 July

Why? Meet new people, learn new things, become better. Simple.

Throughout the festival, the School Of Integration is offering over 80 free classes on a wide-ranging curriculum that includes food, beauty and politics. They're all given by local people originally from countries around the world, from Zimbabwe to Tibet.

Whether your passion lies in hair braiding, or perhaps in the history of tea take a look at the classes on offer, external and get inspired.

Enough to whet your impoverished whistle? We think so too. Now get out there, and enjoy great stuff for free.

Take a look at the full festival programme here, external- enjoy!

An new collaboration between New York dancer-collaborator Reggie ‘Regg Roc’ Gray and some of the best UK poets, Alphabus, external opens tonight at the Great Northern Warehouse and runs until the end of the weekend.

Blending, dance and spoken word, it uses global myths, faiths and traditions to ask - what are you willing to sacrifice? What have you got to lose?

Take a look at the trailer below, and don't miss out

Next up from the Creative Lab cohort, it's Tom Halls!

He's created a response to... well, everything at the festival, through his super new project: Hotline. The work takes the form of a real-life actual phone number that the audience (that's you!) can call throughout the festival, with Tom changing the format and content of the whole thing daily.

Image source, MIF

Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply

We strongly encourage saving this one to your phone and calling each day, Tom's lovely phone line will shift and change constantly throughout the festival, and will be full of surprises. To get this made, Tom picked up some brand new digital know-how with a local creative technologist (that may or may not be also writing this post), and together they used the excellent Twilio service to rig up a system that Tom could work with creatively.

You can follow Tom's work on Twitter, external and Instagram, external, but for now:

Image source, MIF

Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply

Image source, MIF

Last night saw the 8-time Grammy nominated Janelle Monáe absolutely smash her performance at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl. Guys, she's only doing two dates in the UK this year, and we housed one of them last night. If you weren't there, never fear, we have the photos to prove it.

And yes, we're delighted to inform you that THOSE trousers made an appearance. Phew.

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

If you're desperate to see more brilliant women smash their gigs, we highly recommend you grab a ticket for Queens Of The Electronic Underground, external on the 20 July - a night of female electronic artists curated by the brilliant Mary Anne Hobbs. Who knows what trousers still lie in store?

MIF have once more commissioned an exclusive videogame project for the festival, which is now online. Say hello to legendary Canadian games designer Paloma Dawkins, external, who collaborated with also-very-legendary electronic artist Jlin, external and a list of international collaborators to create Songs of the Lost - available to play, right now, for free, on Mac and PC!

We'll be diving into this project massively over the coming days on MIF Live, and Paloma will be joining us to speak at Interdependence, external on the final weekend of the festival.

Jlin is also playing live at Queens Of The Electronic Underground, external, curated by Mary Ann Hobbs, featuring live visuals taken from the game.

Lots to talk about with this one, but for now: dive in by following the links right here, external. Headphones strongly recommended for this one.

The wonderful Mary Anne Hobbs will be talking all things MIF, including catching up with Maxine Peake and her work The Nico Project, external - her show for the festival inspired by Nico's 1968 album The Marble Index.

Mary Anne has a long history of working with the Manchester International Festival, and has curated her own night for us called Queens Of The Electronic Underground, external on the 20th July - showcasing some of the most exciting new electronic artists.

You'll be able to listen to the great chat live right here, just check the top of the page and fill your ears with goodness.

Every A-Team needs its van. Every Thunderbird needs its Tracy Island. Every MIF content writer needs more up-to-date references. But the point is - the beating heart of our festival is BACK. And it's better than ever. Look! Deck chairs! Delicious food! There will be dogs!

Image source, MIF

If you're not totally sure where to begin your MIF journey, your best possible bet is to head to Festival Square (formally known as Albert Square). Why? We're glad you asked.

1. Lovely food, lovely drink, lovely lovely

Image source, MIF

British classics, Indian street food, burgers, sweet things, coffee, beer and prosecco - your stomach needs it, and we've got it. And you know what they say: you can't go and see an experimental dance piece without eating a lot of chips. That's science.

2. Free live music and DJs all day

Image source, MIF

What's the only thing better than eating chips in the sun? Eating chips in the sun whilst watching free gigs. We have an entire programme of fantastic music events, external open for all to come and enjoy. From Nitin Sawhney to The Orielles, Horace Andy, LIINES and Dave Haslem, we will be bringing banging music to the city centre every day. With chips.

3. Let's go late night

Image source, MIF

After all, it's summer, right? Whilst the weather is warm (for Manchester) and sunny (for Manchester) and not raining (well, raining a bit, it is Manchester after all), we demand you stay out, dance, chat, and enjoy the free DJ sets that run every night from 10pm till late. Summer!

4. Dogs.

Image source, MIF

There will be lots. And don't you worry, we won't rest until we've taken photos of each and every one of them.

See what's on at Festival Square this summer, external, and view the whole Manchester International Festival Programme here, external.

Day 2! With our ears still ringing from our opening BELLS FOR PEACE last night, we're ready to get stuck in (anyone else got Yoko Ono shouting MANCHESTER I LOVE YOU as their ringtone now? No sure, me neither).

So, the big news is that as of noon today Festival Square, external (you might know it as Albert Square) is open to enjoy. Packed full of free gigs, fantastic food, several bars and enough deck-chairs to make Scarborough blush, we're so happy that it's back. Look! Look how great it looks!

Image source, MIF

In terms of shows, Tree , externaland Invisible Cities, external are open for business - blending a whole host of disciples and tearing up the rule book, and South Asian classical legend Abida Parveen is here for a one night only at The Lowry, external.

Reggie ‘Regg Roc’ Gray, the New York dancer-choreographer behind FlexN Manchester, opens his stunning new dance piece Alphabus, external, promising to be a "thrilling, intense exploration of power and weakness, triumph and tragedy, anti-heroes and fallen angels".

The School Of Integration, external is also opening its doors, bringing free classes from local residents who have come to Manchester from all over the world, and Chim↑Pom's A Drunk Pandemic , externalbrewery tours also kick off, promising madness and surprises along the way.

Over at the Whitworth Gallery, Ibrahim Mahama's A Parliament Of Ghosts , externalopens; an exhibition telling the lost stories of Ghana: "a haunting assemblage of lost objects, rescued and repurposed to form a vast parliamentary chamber".

And finally, for those playing along online, our specially commissioned game Songs Of The Lost, external by award-winning Canadian designer Paloma Dawkins hits today! You can play it absolutely free right here, external, and don't forget to tell us what you think over at @MIFestival, external on Twitter.

Not sure what to expect from it? Well hot dog, that's why they invented trailers:

Right, that's the morning report! It's Day 2, and we have a lot to show you - if you see us around (@natashahodgson, external and @danhett, external), please do grab us and say what you're looking forward to, we'd love to steal some content off you.

Let's go!

We're so happy to welcome the world to Manchester for our 18 extraordinary days.

Our brave, bold and beautiful city is strongest when we're together, and whether we're drawing circles in the sky, ringing out a global message or heading directly to the pub (often all three), we're so proud to bring our spirit of openness, courage and unity to every second.

So, whether you can come and see some of our magnificent events live, or you're joining us online - we'll be here bringing you theatre, dance, music, groundbreaking tech and plenty of gloriously mad fusion between them all.

Welcome to Manchester. We're overjoyed to have you.

Join us again tomorrow morning, where we'll be doing it all over again. Day one, done!

Take a look at the full Manchester International Festival Programme, external.

We just got back from the incredible BELLS FOR PEACE, external, Yoko Ono's festival opener that was, in this author's humble opinion, far from peaceful! While I wait for my ears to stop ringing, here's what Manchester's twitterati made of the whole thing...

The ceremony has officially ended, and the crowd have burst into a rousing rendition of Give Peace A Chance.

You know what to do. Sing along at home:

Electric energy in Cathedral Gardens as Yoko Ono leads Manchester in a mantra for peace.