The sunshine has taken a breather, but we most certainly have not: Festival Square, external is packed with the good stuff today, and hey, we have a roof. Let's see what's in store:

Image source, MIF

Local singer-songwriter Jon Kenzie, external kicks off at 12:30 BST, opening the Festival Square stage - go say hello.

At 14:30 BST there's an odd but super exciting one: Louder Than War's excellent John Robb, external in conversation with actual punk legend Jordan Mooney (no, really, external) talking about... ballet? Yeah, you heard us.

From 15:00 BST we're joined by Matthew Whitaker (of Henge and a lot of other places), but don't take our word for it:

In the same vein, at 19:45 BST we have the incredible 7:45s joining the stage. Check them out here, external.

From 20:00 BST til 22:00 BST we have something special indeed: a Dave Haslam curated lineup of The Blinders, Witch Fever & The Pagans - this one will be special, we trust Dave implicitly and he never steers us wrong. Check out The Blinders here:

Assuming you're still standing after all that, we round off the day with a set from DJ Shell Zenner, external from 22:00 BST til late.

Then, and only then, may you sleep. Whew.

A very good morning to you, Manchester International Festival - welcome to day 13! We're on the home stretch, hurtling towards the exciting climactic end of the festival, but we're not quite there yet. Here's what's coming up today:

Image source, MIF

Our big exciting shows roll on today, if you'd like some quiet time with Atmospheric Memory, external then today would be a good chance to pull up a giant beanbag and take it in. As ever, our lovely School of Integration, external continues entirely free to all, and Parliament of Ghosts, external is on at the Whitworth for a few more days and is one we promise you must see. Audiences are still raving about David Lynch at HOME, external too, his exhibition is free and open to all - we'll be talking transcendental meditation here today too, stay tuned!

Festival Square, external is also looking tip top, we'll be bringing you a much closer look at the lineup later today but here's what to expect:

Image source, MIF

Here on MIF Live we're going to be bringing you another crop of our exciting Creative Lab, external artists, and excitingly we'll be focusing today on Paloma Dawkins' superb festival games commission Songs Of The Lost, external - Dan from the live team (who's writing this post right now) also worked as a technical producer on the game, meaning he's very well equipped to take you behind the scenes on the whole thing and show you the good stuff. Stay tuned for noise and colour and a peek behind the curtain of this exciting videogames work.

It'll be a good day. Go forth, festival!

Look, it might be Monday night but that doesn't mean it has to feel like one.

The brilliant Orielles are taking to the stage of Festival Square right now, until 22:00 BST, followed by a DJ set courtesy Psychedelic DiscoTech.

If you're not around to experience it live, take a listen to the Orielles right here and next time plan your classic Monday raving a lot better.

We'll be back tomorrow, talking about our specially commissioned game Songs Of The Lost, external by Paloma Dawkins, the final shows opening this week, and plenty more. Now. To the dance!

Exploring the life of infamous German actor-singer Nico, the brilliant Maxine Peake is back at the International Manchester Festival with new show The Nico Project, external.

Written by playwright EV Crowe and with music by Anna Clyne, it's an unflinchingly look at how female creators are positioned in relation to the men around them, with specific focus on Nico and her 1968 album The Marble Index. And hey, some photos!

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

The Nico Project is running until the very end of the festival (21 July), and you can find out more about it here., external

Consider this our love letter to the beating heart of our beautiful festival - oh Festival Square, you ice-cream-splattered, pint-riddled, sticky, noisy, sparkly, sun-kissed beauty, thanks for taking us on this ride.

So why exactly do we bang on about it so much? We'd be delighted to explain.

10. The amazing food

9. That view (sometimes it's even dappled by sunlight!)

8. The casual, sudden appearance of international super-legends

7. ART ART ART!

6. Championing helping people

5. The fact that it's for literally everyone

4. Really though, everyone

3. The Big Nights.

2. Though it demands we party, it also demands we relax...

1. And, of course, the dogs.

Festival Square is open until the festival closes this Sunday. Find out what's happening, external, and enjoy.

At Saturday's Interdependence, we were lucky enough to have an audience with swiss Art Curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, French author Patrick Chamoiseau (and his translator Claudia), and Chilean poet Alejandro Zambra.

Together, they discussed créolisation - how different cultures begin to merge over time - and the relationship between literature and politics. You can view the whole thing below, sink in and enjoy:

We have one more Saturday Summit coming up this week on the topic of Life Hacked - take a look, external, and get involved.

Tao Of Glass is beautiful, emotional and brand new work from director Phelim McDermott, exploring what happens when you finally get to work with your idol. In this case, that idol is renowned composer Phillip Glass. No pressure.

With puppetry, physical theatre and beautiful imagery, it's stunning audiences across the city - take a look at some official shots for yourself:

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Tao Of Glass is running at the Royal Exchange Theatre until Saturday 20 July - and you can find out more here., external

Tania Bruguera's ongoing School of Integration, external project examines immigration through the lens of some of the diverse people who've settled in Manchester. The project has been an incredible way to tell their stories, and indeed allow Manchester's audiences to engage with some of Manchester's newest citizens in a truly original and enormously valuable way. We visited last week, and were enthralled.

Image source, MIF

One of the elements within the project is the opportunity for audience members to take a mock UK citizenship test - precisely the kind of test that even now, immigrants to the UK are given, in order to 'prove' their British-ness. Of course, the questions within these tests are often extremely specific in nature, and although this precise test document was created for the artwork - the questions themselves are taken from real UK citizenship tests, including the spelling mistakes and inaccuracies. For example:

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

We found this idea to be a really valuable addition to the project - we struggled to answer many of these questions, and indeed it feels like the only people equipped to answer all of them are, indeed, immigrants who have revised them.

Image source, MIF

Is true 'Britishness' really about memorising trivia knowledge, or is it something else? Is someone who put their roots down in Manchester any more or less Mancunian than those who were born here? Could you pass the test, and should it matter?

Find out for yourself at the School of Integration, external. Classes are free (but require a booking), and run until 20th July.

As part of our achingly brilliant gal-dem, external Interdependence take-over, Emma Dabiri - broadcaster and author of Don’t Touch My Hair - talked to gal-dem Head Of Editorial Charlie Brinkurst-Cuff.

They talk about the psychological cost of trying to conform to the white gaze, how to get rid of unwanted shame and cultivate pride in a variety of heritages. We were lucky enough to capture the whole thing, and you're lucky enough to watch it in full right here. Enjoy:

We have one more Saturday of Interdependence left, take a look at what's coming up right here, external.

You can quote us on this: Festival Square is going to be excellent today. This is somewhat of cop-out given that Festival Square, external is excellent every day, but today it's sunny and our lineup is tip-top and thus we can conclude that today will be particularly excellent.

Image source, MIF

Musical highlights include the Chorus Of Others, external at 17:30 BST, which sprang directly out of the Fatherland project during MIF17:

We also heartily and excitedly endorse The Orielles, external who'll be joining us 20:00 BST alongside Working Men's Club. Selected personally by Dave 'literally MIF personified' Haslam, don't miss them tonight! Listen here:

Rounding off the day will be the amazing Psychedelic DiscoTech, external crew, along with a whole bunch of special guests and surprises - join them at 22:00 BST until late. The party never stops at MIF! (disclaimer: the party does eventually stop but not until very late. Shhh).

Full lineup and info right here, external.

Today's first Creative Lab project is Idiolect, a new song by singer, songwriter and artist Hannah Miller. This isn't just an ordinary song however, of course not. This is the Creative Lab, after all. Hannah has taken on brand spanking new Sonic Pi, external live coding skills to create this brilliant new piece, a practice involving using small amounts of code in a performative way to create loops, sounds, visuals and more.

Image source, MIF

Hannah writes:

The work is a response to ‘The School of Integration’ and ‘Atmospheric Memory', contemplates the intricacies of human communication; being outside of a spoken language; the tangible spectres of past words and actions; the particles of language that are found across tongues and exploring what is revealed when you break language in to component parts.

The work imagines a Utopian ‘Difference Engine No. 3’ built to read the subtext and the nuances of human experience, to translate and decode us. Algorithms have tried, but humans are infinitely, magically unpredictable. What I really want are Linguistic-Empathic Superpowers.

Check out the full song right here, what a lovely thing this is.

Credits:

Additional Percussion, Editing & Mixing – Oli Moule at The Moule Sanctuary

Thanks to Tamara Al-Mashouk

You can follow Hannah's band The Moulettes over on Instagram, external.

Our epic Atmospheric Memory, external - an interactive exhibition that explores what secrets are contained within the air all around us - has been going down a storm with our audiences. But you don't need us to tell you that, especially when we've been hunting them down armed with a camera.

Take a look at what people have to say about Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s beautiful creation, here until the 21 July.

A little while ago we wrote about Creative Lab tag-team Jessica El Mal and Sophia Malik, who came together to create a beautifully-presented physical data visualisation in response to Invisible Cities. In case you missed it, there's lots of info on the original post right here.

The work was exhibited right in the heart of Central Library, and Jessica and Sophia captured a superb video with a look at the making-of and installation of the work. Check it out right here:

Jessica can be found online right here, external, and Sophia can be found on Instagram here, external. The duo plan to keep working together, and this work might well be on the move in the near future too. Follow them for updates.

Stand by for more exciting Creative Lab updates today!

GOOD MORNING festival! It's a beautiful sunny day already, the weather is going to be absolutely tip top, and we have a veritable smorgasbord of lovely festival goodness lined up for you. Here's the skinny:

Image source, MIF

Our top recommendation today is staying hydrated and wearing sunscreen, both excellent choices for a day like today, especially if, like us, you're spending some of it chilling in a deckchair on Festival Square over your lunch break.

In festival terms (we have some art for you too), we heartily suggest you check out Laurie Anderson's superb To The Moon, external, which is an experience that left Tash quite whelmed. In fact, I'd go so far as to say overwhelmed:

Freebies running today that get our full seal of approval are the superb installation Parliament of Ghosts, external over at the Whitworth, and Tania Bruguera's ongoing School of Integration, external classes at the Manchester Art Gallery (booking required, but tickets are free).

Or, if you're stuck at a desk or more of an indoors type, we have your back: why not grab some headphones and give Paloma Dawkin's super Songs Of The Lost, external a spin, free to play on Mac and PC from right here, external.

We'll also be bringing you another exciting round of Creative Lab, external projects, there's some incredible work coming out of this programme today and we're going to show you all of it, oh yes.

Crikey. One week to go. So much happening. Strap in!

Join us again tomorrow morning, where we'll be firing into the final week of this year's Manchester International Festival. We've already got a guide to the best new stuff to look out for, and you can take a look at the full programme here, external.

For now, we hope your dreams aren't too weird. Thanks, David Lynch. Thanks for all our beautiful nightmares.

As we listen to these brilliant musicians, inspired by David Lynch's work, it only seems fair we dig into the history of the man himself.

In some ways it's not surprising that he chose Manchester for the first ever UK art show (currently running at HOME, entitled My Head Is Disconnected, external)

As a man who has always felt a tie to the industrial, he actually made a trip to the North West in the 90s on what he described to The Guardian , externalas "a search for factories". Though by the time he arrived, the factories were being torn down, making way for fields: "I guess it’s good for the environment" he said, "but it’s bad for photography, I’ll tell you that."

Image source, MIF

He doesn't like to give interviews, ("I don't like going out. I like to stay at home"), preferring to leave interpretation of his work - be that his seminal films, his iconic TV series Twin Peaks or his visual art - to the audience.

Instead, all we can do is catch glimpses of who he might be through the things he loves - currently curating a film season at HOME, external it's fascinating to take a look at his choices: The Wizard Of Oz, Sunset Boulevard, A Place In The Sun - films that evoke other worlds that run parallel to our own, dark glamour, beautiful, dreamy visuals.

Image source, MIF

For those who want to get a closer look into the psyche of the man behind such beloved and bizarre classics as Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man and Eraserhead (this particular live team author remains gloriously traumatised by The Lady In The Radiator), the only real option is visiting his fascinating exhibition My Head Is Disconnected, a collection of his paintings, drawings and sculptures that span his 50 year career.

Divided into four sections: City On Fire, Nothing Here, Industrial Empire (shout-out to Manchester there) and Bedtime Stories, it's an exhibition filled with glimpses of twisted stories, dramatic landscapes and bleak humour (anyone for a repeated image of a dead fly with a multitude of different names?)

Image source, MIF

"You never know when ideas are going to hit you," says Lynch, in a rare recent interview with The Big Issue, external, "You can get ideas just from sitting in a room daydreaming, just feeling the air. I think people are like radios. They pick up signals. But sometimes you go to a new place and that will give you ideas. Sometimes you go to a new place - no ideas. You never know what’s going to trigger the ideas you fall in love with."

Learn more about David Lynch at HOME here., external

Having worked with everyone from Radiohead to Steve Reich, Mica Levi to Karl Lagerfeld, we're so proud to have Oliver Coates perform with us this evening.

Tonight, he’s presenting an exclusive solo performance inspired by pioneering cult electronic musician Enno Velthuys. Like Hatis Nois, Oliver balances a background in classical music with a love of modern electronica and experimental music.

In an interview with Tiny Mix Tapes, external, he was asked what he carries from his classical beginnings into his compositions:

The hypnotising Chrysta Bell will be introducing world-class cellist Oliver Coates after the break - we'll see you back then for more glorious music, classic/electronic fusion and gentle creeping glamour.

Till then, why not take a look at David Lynch's exhibition My Head Is Disconnected, external, running at HOME throughout this year's festival.

Image source, MIF

Artist, model, musician and actor in her own right - Chrysta Bell is a formidable force. You might know her for her music, external, or potentially you'll know her from the recent series of Twin Peaks, where she played Agent Tammy Preston.

So, how was it working with Lynch on that project? According to her interview with Vanity Fair, external, just as mysterious as you would hope

Good to know that even his friends of 20 years still find him just as strange and wonderful as the rest of us.

On the main stage at HOME, the gorgeously haunting singer takes a small break from mesmerising our audience to explain the origins of her name: