Manchester International Festival

Name: Manchester International Festival
Start: 2023-06-29T00:00:00
End: 2023-07-16T23:59:00
Location: Aviva Studios

Creative Tourist Last Updated 26 July 2023

Yayoi Kusama, courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner. — Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner.

Manchester International Festival 2023 at Aviva Studios, Manchester 29 June — 16 July 2023 Tickets from £10.00 — Book now

Manchester became the world’s stage this summer, with Manchester International Festival taking over venues and spaces across the city, including the all-new Factory International.

MIF23 presented 18 extraordinary days of events, performances and happenings in Greater Manchester, where the world’s most exciting creative minds reached across art forms, smashed boundaries, and spoke to urgent contemporary issues.

While the festival’s now come to an end, there’s still a lot of action happening at Factory International, including Yayoi Kusama’s blockbuster exhibition You, Me and the Balloons and Endless Summer, a bumper series of free activities, gigs and DJs, and interactive art.

After summer we’ve got our eyes on Free Your Mind, a world-first dance adaptation of classic sci-fi film The Matrix, directed by Danny Boyle.

Manchester International Festival 2023 at Aviva Studios, Manchester 29 June — 16 July 2023 Tickets from £10.00 Book now

What's on at Aviva Studios

Street Symphony X La Suerte at Aviva Studios

28 Jul

DanceManchester

Street Symphony X La Suerte at Aviva Studios

Join Factory International for their second edition of Street Symphony, hosted by La Suerte Dance School.

free entry

A band plays on a stage infront of a big crowd with lots of sparkling spotlights shining on them

Until 18 Jan 2025

FamiliesCity Centre

Factory International Membership

Get priority booking on the best seats, special discounts, invitations to exclusive events and much more. Are you in?

from £45.00

Until 24 Dec

FamiliesManchester

Factory International Gift Membership

If you’re hunting for the perfect present – a Factory International Gift Membership could be just the ticket.

from £45.00

Until 1 Sep

ActivityManchester

Summer Factory at Aviva Studios

Head into the city for a dreamy summer of live events (many completely free) all by the riverside at Aviva Studios.

free entry

Until 1 Sep

ExhibitionsManchester

Sweet Dreams at Aviva Studios

Multi-sensory and surreal, Sweet Dreams is a brand-new storytelling experience that takes audiences on a journey through food, appetite and desire.

from £7.50

Featured in

Festivals

Here’s our guide to the best summer festivals with experiences taking place in a field or on the streets near you.

Where to go near Manchester International Festival

Castlefield

Event venue

Old Granada Studios

Manchester’s old Granada Studios is an iconic piece of the city’s history and home to Sidney Bernstein’s television empire.

Manchester

Restaurant

Caravan Restaurant & Roastery

New Zealand-inspired food and drinks, plus a dedicated coffee roastery at this high-profile new restaurant, opening in August.

Manchester

Music venue

The Blues Kitchen Manchester

The Blues Kitchen’s superb American-inspired food is a perfect match for the upstairs live music space.

Castlefield

Restaurant

The Loft Manchester

Smart event space in the building previously occupied by Walkabout, and now host to all manner of exciting one-off happenings

City Centre

Theatre

Manchester Opera House

A commercial touring theatre, the Manchester Opera House is reopening in August 2021, all set to host the city’s finest mainstream theatrical productions, music gigs, opera and ballet.

City Centre

Music venue

Low Four Studio

Old Granada Studios has announced Low Four: a new studio and music project that will stream and archive live music performance as part of a new generation of music TV programming. The inclusion of a viewing balcony also means that these recordings, along with special events and concerts, will be made open to a few […]

Manchester

Restaurant

20 Stories

High-end restaurant and cocktail bar, with stunning views of the Manchester skyline.

Manchester

Cinema

Everyman Manchester St John’s

Experience luxury moviegoing at this three-screen boutique cinema and bar located close to Spinningfields.

City Centre

Restaurant

The Ivy Spinningfields

Four floors of luxury dining in this impressive development from the team behind the world-famous Ivy restaurant.

City Centre

Restaurant

Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill Manchester

At Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill Manchester, you can enjoy the finest all-you-can-eat steaks and skewered meats, carved at the table.

Manchester

Gallery

Smolensky Gallery

This appointment-only gallery is a hidden gem in Manchester. Art lovers and collectors can browse many high quality pieces.

Manchester

Hotel

Moxy Manchester City

Moxy Manchester City is a stylish 146-bedroom hotel in Spinningfields, with an attractive living room lobby and modern, well-stocked bar.

See all places

What's on: Festivals

Image of a stage with a band playing and a crowd of audience members stood and sat down.

Until 28 Sep

FamiliesPreston

Preston: City Event Programme

From Easter egg rolling to the 50th anniversary Caribbean Carnival, find out what’s happening in Preston this year.

free entry

Until 1 Sep

FestivalsChester

Open Air Theatre at Grosvenor Park

Expect another fabulous season of open-air theatre when The Gangs of New York, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Importance of Being Earnest play Grosvenor Park this summer.

from £6.75

$Refract Festival 2024 at Waterside$

Until 28 Jul

FestivalsSale

Refract 24 at Waterside

Back for 2024, Trafford’s flagship arts festival returns to Waterside for six days of experiential performance and cultural delight.

27 Jul

FestivalsCity Centre

Manchester Day 2024

Enjoy a dusk-til-dawn celebration of the community and exuberance of Manchester.

free entry

27 Jul – 7 Sep

FestivalsManchester

Green Island Festival at Hulme Garden Centre

Hulme’s Green Island Festival brings a three-part series of events to Hulme Garden Centre and – new for this year – the iconic NIAMOS.

from £20.00

27 Jul – 28 Jul

Festivals

NightGarden Festival

“You stumble down a garden path past city fringes and looming industrial structures. Are you lost? No! You’ve only just arrived”.

from £15.00

28 Jul

ActivityManchester

Yoga Rave at Waterside Arts

Join qualified yoga teacher Hebe Reilly, and disco, funk & house DJ Misscothèque, for a morning yoga rave jam-packed with your fave tracks. Yoga Rave is a fun fusion of guided floor-based yoga moves and stretches (with accessible options available), free-style movement and dancing to a live DJ, before we come back together for a guided cool down and relaxation.

from £10.00

2 Aug – 31 Aug

CinemaCity Centre

Sheffield Film Festival at Showroom Cinema

Sheffield Film Festival is a new annual celebration of the rich film heritage and thriving film culture of Sheffield, and the surrounding region.

from £5.00

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Food and Drink in Manchester and the North

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A close-up image of freshly baked challah bread. The bread is golden-brown, braided, and has a light, fluffy texture. Multiple loaves are visible in the background, all exhibiting a warm, inviting appearance with a slight dusting of flour.

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Cinema in Manchester and the North

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Theatre in Manchester and the North

Interactive circus, arts festivals and new writing, our guide features a show-stopping selection of theatre happening indoors and outside.

Literature Events in Manchester and the North

In between working out, then working through, your holiday reading pile this summer, find inspiration for your next bookish acquisitions from our selection of live events and exhibitions.

Dark landscape photo with a tree outlined against pale starry sky. There are green traces of fireflies in the foreground.

Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

Virginia Woolf and lasers, environmental recovery through wildness and thoughts on motherhood - all this and more in our exhibition top picks!

Classical Music in Manchester and the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

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