Good morning, and: hello, world! Welcome to the new-look 2019 MIF Live. Returning for its second festival outing, MIF Live is an exciting collaboration between the dedicated MIF editorial team and our colleagues at the BBC. Over the next eighteen extraordinary days this channel will transform into your one-stop window into everything that makes up the Manchester International Festival.

MIF Live is where we’ll be live-streaming some of our enormous festival performances, taking you behind the scenes at the festival and its commissions. We’ll be going in-depth with artists, bringing you news, reviews, cutting-edge media, videos, long-form articles, a whole podcast series, and (trust us): more than a couple of surprises along the way. The Live team have been given unprecedented access to the beating heart of the Manchester International Festival, and our coverage never stops: from the first ring of bells with Yoko Ono, external on the opening night until Skepta, external drops the mic on the final night in just under three weeks, and everything that happens in between. There is an incredible amount happening in the next eighteen days, and we’re with you every step of the way.

Image source, MIF

So: bookmark this page, and check back at any point during the festival for the latest goings-on, recommendations, reviews, content and everything else you would possibly want to know about MIF. We’ll be kicking off each day with a full whats-on guide to the day ahead: a varied schedule of everything happening each day, including some personal recommendations from MIF staff, our artists, and maybe even a celebrity friend of the festival here and there too. Whether you’re planning on joining us in sunny Manchester or watching online from afar, let MIF Live be your guide.

You can follow us online too: the main MIF accounts will be posting selected highlights from this channel daily on Facebook, external, Twitter and Instagram, external. Alternatively, for the full noisy experience you can follow your MIF editorial team directly for updates every time any content is posted here. We are Dan Hett and Natasha Hodgson, it is a pleasure to meet you, and you can find us on Twitter here: @danhett, external / @natashahodgson, external.

We couldn’t be more excited about the next eighteen extraordinary days, and we hope you’ll join us for the journey.

Image source, MIF

Manchester International Festival is returning this summer for another 18 extraordinary days of world premieres and special events.

From 4 to 21 July 2019, MIF19 will be welcoming a spectacular variety of artists to present new work and special events in a range of venues across Greater Manchester.

We'll be bringing you live updates and live streaming some of the shows right here, but in the meantime if you want to find out more about the Festival or the MIF19 programme visit mif.co.uk, external