I’ve been lost in the loud, boozy, dingy world of this year’s In The City music conference for the past couple of days. It’s been fun so far, if a little damaging to the health.

This is, of course, the first ITC since the passing of its co-founder Tony Wilson, so it’s been interesting to see how it compares to previous years. Good news is that nothing much has changed - same old venues I’d never normally set foot in (Walkabout, Studio, Bar 38…), terrible teenage bands (I’ve yet to see anyone interesting), industry back-slapping and painfully late nights.

This year there’s a big corporate sponsor (Coca Cola) on board and the delegate bags (one of my main reasons for attending) certainly aren’t going to last til ITC 2008. I’ve also noticed that the seminars are less about technology and the internet this year, with management, distribution and live music coming to the forefront. The ‘360 degree model’ seems to be something of a buzz phrase too.

Elsewhere in the festival town formerly known as Manchester, we’ve got a comedy festival going on and also a science festival. I’m not particularly into either - far too participatory - and I’m suffering from festival fatigue, what with the literature and food and drink events earlier this month, so browse the websites yourselves if you’re so inclined.

But before you go, check out Virtual Manchester’s Manchester Events Guide, Manchester clubbing guide Northernights and Aidan O’Rourke’s Life on Mars location guide.

* I Love Manchester photo nabbed from Nik Fletcher, who has just left Manchester for pastures new - best of luck Nik!