The Manchester Weekender 2012.

A whirlwind 48 hours of music, art, film, food, literature, walks, politics, photography, nightlife, kids’ stuff and spectacle all wrapped up into a single weekend.

From the blockbuster to the boutique, from contemporary art to new music, from boat parties and bicycle tours to one-off cinema, from art picnics to the art underground, and from niche acts to unexpected headliners, every year The Manchester Weekender kicks off autumn’s cultural season with some of the city’s most intimate, unusual and unexpected events.

We can’t tell you yet what 2012 has in store – we wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. But we can tell you that there’s no better place to be than October in Manchester.

The Manchester Weekender 2012, 12-14 October.

What are you waiting for? Subscribe now and be first in line when we release further details, read about The Manchester Weekender 2011, or scroll down to find out just what kind of a weekend we’re cooking up for you this year.

The story so far

One weekend last October, 6,500 people experienced the Manchester Weekender, 23,000 readers joined us on Creative Tourist, 26,000 got busy on Twitter and 10,000 hopefuls entered our competition via The Guardian.

It is hardly surprising. Since 2010, the Manchester Weekender has shined a spotlight on dozens of international festivals, a clutch of the city’s finest museums, galleries, theatres and historic buildings, and a truckload of artists, promoters, writers, musicians and more.

The Weekender has been in the national press, all over social media, won an award, seen the launch of an iPhone app, commissioned new work and presented existing pieces in alternative venues and, most importantly, married event promoters with new partners.

It has presented work by Jarvis Cocker, Helen Storey, Dave Haslam, Brian Cox, Adolphe Valette, Jah Wobble, Olafur Eliasson, Black Audio Film Collective, Ford Madox Brown, Rachel Whiteread, JMW Turner, Jonathan Franzen, Matthew Krysko, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Michael Symmons Roberts, Bill Drummond, BlackLab, Broke ‘N’ £nglish, Peaches Christ, Lynn Barber, Gillian Wearing, Swing Out Sister, Len Grant, Liz Green, Lip Service and Robert Owen Brown – quite the eclectic bunch, and all the better for it.

And the Manchester Weekender has collaborated with Alternative Camera Club, AND Festival, The Asia Triennial, Beating Wing Orchestra, The Bridgewater Hall, Castlefield Gallery, Chinese Arts Centre, Contact, Cornerhouse, CUBE, Eurocultured, FutureEverything, Hey! Manchester, Imperial War Museum North, The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, The John Rylands Library, The Lowry, Madlab, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Camerata, Manchester Comedy Festival, Manchester Food & Drink Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, Manchester Literature Festival, The Manchester Museum, Manchester Science Festival, Manchester Tourist Guiding Agency, The Mark Addy, MOSI, the National Football Museum, People’s History Museum, The Portico Library, Royal Exchange Theatre, Un-convention, and The Whitworth Art Gallery.

So come make the most of your weekend. Join us for The Manchester Weekender 2012. Sign up now.

Images (top to bottom): Liz Green, who appeared at The Portico Library as part of The Manchester Weekender 2011; Bill Drummond, who appeared as part of Un-convention and The Manchester Weekender 2010; Shrink, Lawrence Malstaff, which was performed as part of the AND Festival and The Manchester Weekender 2010.

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