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UnShut Festival 2020

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

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UnShut Festival

2-4 July 2020

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

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UnShut Festival
Image courtesy of UnShut Festival.
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Experience UnShut Festival online, on the streets or by post this July.

Taking place over 3 days, UnShut Festival 2020 brings experimental and radical performance work. And while we’re upset that ordinary festival fun is out of bounds, we think that UnShut Festival offers a brilliant alternative, and offers a creative response to the situation we find ourselves in right now.

Working with live artists to explore the world we’re living in, and the ways that we connect, socialise and interact, the festival aims to investigate, challenge and test the boundaries of contemporary performance.

An online celebration of experimental work, there will be 12 performances. Work will include building a theatre from scratch, a world-wide street clean, a revolution by postcard and an intimate performance in Animal Crossing.

Bringing durational performance, intimate one-to-one performances on Zoom, audio performance, a series of family-friendly tiny installations hidden across Sheffield city centre and a special online Q and A where you can join the artists in discussion, we think UnShut offers connection, creativity and community at such a challenging time for artists and audiences.

While you’re here…be sure to check out our full (and frequently updated) guide to the best online things to do in Manchester and the North.

Where to go near UnShut Festival 2020

The Curling Club - Vinegar Yard
Castlefield
The Curling Club

New Jackson in Manchester is having a full scale seasonal takeover. Think curling lanes, lively bars and a packed line up of DJs and performances.

Chadderton Town Hall
Manchester
Event venue
Chadderton Town Hall

Chadderton Town Hall is a magnificent example of Edwardian architecture . Built in 1912/13 in the style of ‘English Renaissance’ and recently restored maintaining its traditional features in regal reds

Cumbria
Restaurant
Heft

A Michelin star restaurant and homely 17th century inn in the Lake District, with food provided by esteemed chef Kevin Tickle.

Tangerine
Chapel Street
Restaurant
Tangerine

Manchester’s latest must-visit multipurpose venue, offering top-level food, drinks and live shows.

Bar Posie
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Posie

A new cocktail bar from the crack team behind 10 Tib Lane and Henry C.

Manchester
Food hall
Kargo MKT

Mighty food hall in Salford Quays, with around twenty street food vendors, serving a huge range of cuisines.

Asap Coffee Interior/ Counter
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
ASAP Coffee

If you’re looking for quality coffee and a decadent brunch in a setting that nails the Northern Quarter brief, you’d struggle to do better than ASAP Coffee.

Interior of George St Chapel
Manchester
Event venue
George Street Chapel

This beautifully restored former Independent Methodist Chapel in the heart of Oldham is as much a creative hub as a heritage landmark.

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