So Itchy, famed for its annual city guides, launched a regular Itchy Manchester magazine in April.

I finally picked up a copy in one of Manchester’s best bars this week, having seen it in a few other quality drinking establishments about town.

The magazine is between A4 and A5 size, full colour, glossy and available for free.

It’s produced at Itchy HQ in London, along with seven other titles for Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, London, Birmingham and Glasgow.

Much of the content is syndicated across the series, meaning Itchy can secure big name interviews: Pet Shop Boys and Dirty Pretty Things, for example.

Each city has its own ‘City Editor’ (Manchester’s being Nadia Jaynes), who works on a freelance basis, and a few local contributors and photographers.

Usefully, issues are available online. Here’s Itchy Manchester Summer 2006 and here’s the same edition for Glasgow. Note the similarities and differences.

It’s a decent enough read but the Manchester map early on is a dead giveaway – Itchy Manchester is targeted at tourists, rather than locals.

The magazine is full of listings: bars, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, music venues, theatres, cinemas, bookshops and libraries… everything a visitor to Manchester could ask for.

I suppose for Itchy it’s a case of once a tourist guide, always a tourist guide.