MIF17: What Is the City but the People? in Piccadilly Gardens

Polly Checkland Harding
Webb Aviation

MIF17: What Is the City but the People? at Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester 29 June 2017 Entrance is free

The opening event of MIF17, Artistic Director John McGrath’s debut festival, will be a unique portrait of the people of Manchester. Conceived by artist Jeremy Deller, What Is the City but the People? will see residents parading on a specially designed walkway stretching more than 100 metres across Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens to live music from Graham Massey, assisted by an unexpected mix of local musicians. Capturing the city through its outfits and attitudes, audiences of What Is the City – both in-person and online – will be treated to a varied performance, including high-fashion statements and moments of deep intimacy.

MIF17: What Is the City but the People? at Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester 29 June 2017 Entrance is free

What's on at Piccadilly Gardens

Rock and Goal
Until
ActivityManchester
Rock and Goal Tour

Join Joe Feeley a Mancunian through and through, who guides you into Manchester’s two pillars of cultural excellence with his Rock and Goal tour.

from £9.99

Where to go near MIF17: What Is the City but the People? in Piccadilly Gardens

ABode Manchester
Manchester
Hotel
ABode Manchester

ABode Manchester is a boutique hotel. With a signature restaurant and bar. Conveniently situated Near Piccadilly Station.

Manchester
Restaurant
Niwa Yakitori

Charcoal grill yakitori supper club held in a beautiful Tokyo-style backstreet cafe in the North Quarter.

Brownsfield Mill building in Manchester
Manchester
Tourist Attraction
Brownsfield Mill

Now a Grade-II listed building, Brownsfield Mill in Manchester was constructed in 1825 as a power mill, and later housed the A.V. Roe and Company aviation factory. The former mill forms part of the Piccadilly Basin and is to undergo refurbishment for potential use as flats or office space.

Roby 1844
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Roby 1844

Roby 1844 is a new canalside terrace bar and restaurant based on Aytoun Street in the heart of Manchester.

Bundobust Manchester
Manchester
Restaurant
Bundobust Manchester

Head to Bundobust Manchester for fantastic and endlessly original Indian street food, all vegetarian (and often vegan).

Manchester
Restaurant
Tariff & Dale

Tariff & Dale is a bar and kitchen in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, taking its name from its location on the corners of both Tariff Street and Dale Street.

Superstition Bar
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Superstition Bar

Independent underground bar in the heart of the Northern Quarter, serving a vast range of quality cocktails.

Beatnikz Republic
Manchester
Restaurant
Beatnikz Republic

Beatnikz Republic Brewing Company is a microbrewery based in Manchester which has focused on innovative and high-quality beer since 2017.

Takk cafe in Manchester.
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
TAKK

An Icelandic coffee bar on the edge of the Northern Quarter

What's on: Exhibitions

Wolf in Yellowstone
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Wild at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum explores the concept of ‘wild’ nature as a means of tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis in a new exhibition.

free entry

Culture Guides

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Classical Music in 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.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.