Just as festival fatigue sets in for some Mancunians, the biggest festival of them all springs in to life.

No, Tony Wilson’s ever-reliable In The City doesn’t kick off til the weekend. I’m talking about the inaugural Manchester International Festival, which, despite not beginning for some 246 days, announced three events today:

Monkey: Journey to the West
Palace Theatre, Manchester
28th June – 7 July 2007
Manchester International Festival launches with a dazzling circus opera spectacular, breathing life into an ancient Chinese legend through music, stunning stage sets, dance, acrobatics and martial arts.
Full details…

Il Tempo del Postino – Group Show
Opera House, Manchester
12 – 14 July 2007
A co-commission between Manchester International Festival and Theatre du Chatelet, Paris.

The time is now. The space is Manchester’s Opera House and a group of the world’s leading visual artists are about to defy all accepted notions of the ‘exhibition’.

Each artist has up to 15 minutes of ‘exhibition time’, an array of materials, effects and special guests (but no film or video), to create their own distinctive part of this new work.
Full details

The Pianist
The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester
3 – 15 July 2007.
Best known as an Oscar-winning film by Roman Polanski and based upon the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, The Pianist is the harrowing story of one man’s time in the Warsaw ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

This new performance in words and music unfolds against the setting of a disused attic in one of Manchester’s most historic buildings. Here, sections of Szpilman’s original text are intercut with the ravishing music of Chopin, played by one of the world’s leading concert pianists, Mikhail Rudy.
Full details

I see Damon Albarn provides the musical score for Monkey – he’s obviously taken the first MIF to heart following last November’s Gorillaz five-nighter Demon Days at the Manchester Opera House.

Ticket prices for the three events range from £7.50 to £42.50, with £15 being the most common price. Those who purchase a £20 festival membership card get presale options.

So what are people thinking about the first MIF? Does it really have the potential to rival the Edinburgh International Festival, or are the organisers kidding themselves? MIF budget: £5m. Edinburgh festival: £7.2m