Manchester International Festival has today announced its Festival Square line-up, the series of free events that makes up the main hub of the huge arts event.
MIF will return to the city between 29 June and 16 July this year, with events in its new home at Factory International.
And there’ll be a new home for Festival Square too, which has previously taken over spaces like Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens.
This year’s free programme of music, family entertainment and street food will be centred around a new riverside location, with an open-air stage welcoming more than 190 artists over the course of the festival.
The majority of those performing will hail from Greater Manchester too, celebrating the sounds of the region.
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Highlights of the Festival Square programme will include post-punk band A Certain Ratio as they mark 45 years, avant-pop-trio The Orielles, electo art rock quartet Dutch Uncles, and trans-non-binary singer-songwriter Planningtorock.
Throughout MIF23, Festival Square will also host takeovers from some of the city’s biggest promoters, club nights, collectives, venues and radio stations including Band on the Wall, Brighter Sound, Dave Haslam, Feel Good Club, Piano in the City, Reform Radio, Trans Creative and YES.
MIF hosted an open call-out earlier this year, with more than 290 applications from artists and community groups across the region. 26 have been selected, including alt-pop singer-songwriter Nxdia, Afrobeat and Reggae collective Sens Sagna and the Kajamor Family, Latin band Guacamaya, and Brazilian percussion from youth-group Jubacana.
Showcasing Factory International’s music development programme, Factory Sounds, solo artist and multi-instrumentalist James Holt, afrobeat influenced rapper Prido, and shoegaze indie pop band Foxglove will also perform.
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On the food and drink side of things, there’ll be an offering from Super Serve (which was recently announced as Factory International’s food and beverage partner), plus Caribbean delights from ARMR, fish and chips from Hip Hop Chip Shop, Indian food from Zouk, and ice creams from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium.
Ginger’s Comfort Emporium. Credit: SuppliedARMR. Credit: SuppliedHip Hop Chip Shop. Credit: The Manc GroupFood and drink at Festival Square
An array of family entertainment will include song and dance workshops, interactive music-making and storytelling, from Babyrocksampler, Born To Be Wild Child, Playhouse Project and more.
Rivca Burns, Festival Square programmer for Factory International says: “We’re super excited to share the 2023 edition of Festival Square, featuring more voices than ever before from across Greater Manchester.
“It is an honour to curate the programme for the hub of Manchester International Festival, the talent in this city is huge and bringing over 190 acts to this international stage. The programme will excite, inspire and fill you with joy daily, get down to Festival Square to enjoy your new favourite artist!”
Sarah Maxfield, Area Director, North, Arts Council England, said: “It is fantastic to have Manchester International Festival back across the city after the limitations of the pandemic. Festival Square offers the local community and visitors a chance to enjoy a huge variety of free live music and family activities and it’s great to see so many artists from Greater Manchester performing in this year’s programme.”
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For those outside the city centre, Sounds From the Square will be broadcasting live to the world from factoryinternational.org and the Factory International YouTube channel with interviews, performances and behind the scenes access to the productions at MIF23.
More details on the MIF23 programme, including Festival Square, can be found at factoryinternational.org.
Featured image: Paul Husband
Manchester
Popular night-time indie shopping market returns to Manchester tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
A unique indie shopping market is returning to Manchester, and you’ll be able to shop from 50 local small businesses all under one roof.
In case you hadn’t heard, the hugely-popular Night Market UK is back by popular demand, and it will be stopping off in our city centre for one night only tomorrow as part of the current leg of its tour across the country.
Returning to Manchester, but this time at a new location down at Fairfield Social Club in the Green Quarter, the unique night-time shopping experience will be showcasing more than 50 local small businesses – with everything from bespoke fashion items and beautifully-crafted homeware, to candles, artwork, silverware, and more on offer.
Brutal Fashion, Lost in Music, Urban Botany, and Dapper Alice are just a handful of the indie traders you’ll be able to shop from.
With event organisers promising there’ll be “a stall for everyone” to browse on the night, some of the other traders in attendance, include artisan producers, artists and bakers, as well as Fairfield Social Club’s resident street food purveyors Isit Kitchen, and pizza pros Killa Carbs.
DJ Clara B will also be taking over the club’s sound system too, and will be blasting tunes to set the scene all night long.
From bespoke fashion items and silverware courtesy of Brutal Fashion, to dazzling musical art prints from Lost in Music, and sculptural candles from Urban Botany to beautifully crafted homeware by Dapper Alice, there will be a stall for everyone on the night.
A popular night-time indie shopping market is returning to Manchester tomorrow / Credit: The Night Market UK | Kunal Mahesh Tewari (via The Night Market UK on Facebook)
The Night Market UK will open at Fairfield Social Club from 6pm tomorrow (Friday 26 July), and will run right through until 11pm.
Tickets are now on sale from just £4 each, and can be purchased in hourly entry timeslots – which organisers say “keeps the atmosphere just right” and ensures there’s enough space for everyone to be able to stay as little or as long as they’d like.
You can buy on the door or grab your tickets in advance here.
Featured Image – Supplied
Manchester
Beloved Manc butty shop Bada Bing set for a sensational return to the city centre
Danny Jones
Sandwich lovers rejoice because one of the finest butty shops to ever grace Manchester is returning: that’s right, Bada Bing is bada-back!
The Sopranos-inspired deli and sandwich shop that took its name from one of the central locations featured in the iconic US drama (yes, the strip club), was a huge success when it first opened in Manchester a few short years ago, so it was a huge blow when it closed in February 2022.
Starting out by serving sandwiches out of a window at The B Lounge pub on Paton Street near Piccadilly, before moving to a small kitchen on Radium Street and eventually setting up their stall inside Ancoats General Store, they would regularly have lines around the block every lunchtime.
These Italian-American sarnies were so popular you’d often struggle to get your claws on one – and believe us, they really are a two-handed task – as they’d sell out on what felt like most days. But now, whether you were a regular or someone who missed out, there is hope once again:
Announcing their sensational return to a new site over in the Northern Quarter, which will now mark the fourth premises they’ve popped up at, Bada Bing is back with a bang and, as you can, they dropped the news with one of the best reveal videos we’ve ever seen.
If you know, you know…
Set to take over 125 Oldham Street, owners Sam Gormally and Meg Lingenfelter haven’t yet graced us with an opening date but the new unit should hopefully be open sooner rather than later.
The duo, who previously worked at fellow NQ favourite Another Heart to Feed, came up with the concept during lockdown and it didn’t take long for the idea to take off, nor for them to earn their spot amongst the very best sandwich places in Manchester.
Seriously, these things were so big and unwieldy (in the best way possible) that they even used to come with eating instructions: both hands and the trademark Tony Soprano hunch recommended, though the slightly stained wife-beater, boxer shorts and open dressing gown look is optional.
From slices of provolone cheese, all the thinly sliced Italian meats you could think of and the closest thing to actual ‘gabagool‘ as you’ll find in Greater Manchester, the menu was fitting of being served up to the iconic characters that once sat outside Satriale’s and a big approving grin from the man himself.
Simply put, we cannot wait and we will certainly keep you posted when we find out exactly when Bada Bing confirms their official reopening date.