Show & Tell is an exhibition by the Urbis Creatives art collective; a collective comprised of Urbis staff. The exhibition will give the Urbis team a chance to show their work and tell the visitors about what they do outside of the creative environment of Urbis. It will comprise of many different disciplines from photography to illustration, painting and also projects the members are involved in such as community work and music events.

You can get a sneak peak of the kind of talent on show by reading more about Urbis Creatives artists. Show & Tell opens on Tuesday 29 September and runs until 12 October.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t write about Urbis without mentioning the potential transfer of one of Preston’s star attractions, the National Football Museum, over here in 2010. I’m sure it would be a great addition to this football-rich city – although Kate over at the Manchizzle expressed the other side of the argument concisely: ‘Art 0, Football 1′.

Yup, the Best of Manchester Awards posters have been re-imagined as ‘Best of Manchester Notions’ – click above for a larger version, and check out the ninja symbol top right in particular.

The (official) organisers love it and are appealing for the designer to come forward. They’ll get their space within the BoMA exhibitions. Alternatively, anyone who helps out with some detective work will get a couple of tickets to the awards night. Email marketing at urbis dot org dot uk.

The biggest event this week is surely the re-opening yesterday of the Manchester Christmas Markets. The largest one, in Albert Square, is open daily, 10am until 9pm, right through to 22 December. For more information, including opening times for the other four – in St Ann’s Square and on Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street and Brazennose Street (here’s a map) – check out the council website.

Inside the town hall, meanwhile, the two-day NOISE Festival – Creative Futures event is currently taking place to promote careers in creative industries. Today’s schedule (10am-6pm) features portfolio reviews, one-to-ones, careers advice and a busking corner, plus an unsigned showcase and panel, and a seminar on art direction by Amelia’s Magazine. Warp Films and Badly Drawn Boy, who played last night, are among this year’s big-name curators.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of great gigs again this week: tonight, the Faint play at Academy 3, supported by an interesting Polar Bear-related band, the Invisible (‘the Invisible Band’ would be a better name…). Or Parenthetical Girls are playing across the road at the small but perfectly formed Kro Bar. And on Friday, Four Tet’s Keiran Hebden returns with drummer Steve Reid.

Salford Film Festival is also in full flow at the moment – great to see it back after last year’s near-cancellation. It runs until 23 November at venues including Salford Arts Theatre, the Lowry, Islington MIll and the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre. Check out the day-by-day guide here.

Oh, and the Spinningfields Ice Rink opens tomorrow, Thursday 20 November, and for the first week it’s just £5 for all skaters.

With a chilly November almost upon us, here are a few things worth considering this weekend:

Art from the other city: Five Salford venues – including Islington Mill, Hot Bed Press and the Kings Arms – show work (paintings, installations, sculpture, prints, video, performances, glass, fashion, theatre, video etc) from dozens of the city’s artist. Friday 2-8pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-4pm. Free (no central source but check out the Islington Mill site)

Dogs, Thieves and Dead Girls: Opening night of a new exhibition of work by Guy McKinley, RichT and China Mike at ‘Manchester’s only designated street art gallery’, Upper Space in Marlsboro House on Newton Street. It’s an invite-only affair but contact them if you’re interested. Exhibition runs until 28 November. Free (Upper Space)

Jon Savage at Piccadilly Records: The author will be DJing in the Oldham Street shop to promote his forthcoming compilation, Dreams Come True, on Domino Records. Saturday 2pm. Free (Piccadilly Records)

Stockhausen festival: The RNCM hosts a day devoted to the late avant-garde composer. If you’re not up for a full eight hours of German minimalism, Vaganza, a recital by Manchester University’s New Music Group, (5pm, £5) provides the best taster with three pieces and a new composition by Stephen Pycroft. Sunday 2-10pm. Free to £10 (RNCM)

[Photo taken in Whitworth Park by i.rashid007]

Music: Richard Cheetham, High Voltage
Fashion: Simon Buckley, Rags to Bitches
Art: Naomi Kashiwagi, conceptual artist

So I scored precisely 1 from 3 with my random predictions, which fits well probability-wise.

I didn’t make it to Urbis last night but it was apparently very busy, with live music from Gideon Conn, Kid British and Keith. The awards were presented by Claire Lomax (fashion), Luke Bainbridge (music) and Peter Saville (art).

There were also three special commendation awards made earlier this week – to Naeem Bawany for club photography, Christopher Gray for commercial design, Liam Hopkins for product design and Daniel Clark for the Manchester-based label and boutique, Junk Shop.

The Best of Manchester exhibition, featuring samples from all nine shortlisted entrants, is now open at Urbis until 28 September.

Music:

• Richard Cheetham, who runs the successful High Voltage bands night and monthly fanzine, and is also the booking manager for Night & Day Cafe
• Duncan Sime, aka Red Deer Club, which started out as a great folk night and now continues as a label and DJing guise
• Jasper Wilkinson, part of multimedia collective I Am Your Autopilot, which ‘blends hard-edged electronica with choral sounds, using synthesizers, guitar and multi-layered harmonies’
• Random tip to win: Duncan Sime

Fashion:

• Simon Buckley, co-owner of Tib Street vintage boutique Rags to Bitches (with wife Flic Everett)
• Nabil El-Nayal, recent winner of the Womenswear Award the Graduate Fashion Week 2008
• Hasan Hejazi, who shoots for YQ magazine among others
• Random tip: Nabil El-Nayal

Art:

• Paul Harfleet, who is behind the innovative council flat-based Apartment exhibition space
• Naomi Kashiwagi, shortlisted for ||: Repetition :||, Fugue No.1 in QWERTY for 8 Typewriters, ‘a music and text score composed for typewriters’
• Jai Redman, creative director of UHC (which I’ve written about before) and creator of the Thin Veneer of Democracy, a 16-foot table decorated with a ‘power map’ of Manchester’s corporate and political movers and shakers
• Random tip: Naomi Kashiwagi

More information is available on the Best of Manchester blog and works by the nine shortlisted entrants will be displayed at Urbis from Friday.

The winners, each receiving £2,000  and a tailored professional development package, will be announced at a ceremony at Urbis on Thursday evening.

The annual competition, hosted by Urbis, ‘celebrates innovation in art, music and fashion’. This deliberately broad scope means art, for example, can include illustration, photography, graphic design as well as fine art and sculpture.

There are also apparently ‘no age limits, no hype and no rules’, so any creative professional living or working in Manchester can enter. Prizes include professional career development, an exhibition in Urbis and a one-off cash prize.

Susie Stubbs, who’s helping to promote the event, has been in touch with an update about this year’s competition:

It’s early days yet as the deadline isn’t until the end of the month, but we’ve already had around 100 entries. Some of the work that’s come in so far is fantastic – the judges are going to have their work cut out.

And the judging panel itself makes for impressive reading: chaired by designer Peter Saville and including Caroline Elleray (head of A&R at Universal Publishing), Miranda Sawyer (Guardian/Observer writer and broadcaster), Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly), Justin Crawford (The Unabombers/Electriks), Tim Thomas (Blueprint Studios), Claire Lomax (Flux) and Kwong Lee (Castlefield Gallery).

The deadline for entries is 30 June and you can follow the latest from the awards camp at their blog, http://bestofmanchester.wordpress.com/. For more information on entering visit the Best of Manchester section on the Urbis website.

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!

These PF Flyers Center Lo sneakers are limited edition with all proceeds going to charity – namely Cure Autism Now in the US and Manchester’s own Pictor School. From July 10 108 pairs will be available in the UK – from eBay for only £40.

If you’re interested in owning a pair and donating a bit to charity, register on the PF Flyers website for updates.

The attraction? Subtle retro style and some useful functionality at a decent price. I kept a few phone numbers in one’s databank in case I lost my phone, for example.

Strangely, ‘retro’ on this occasion meant the early 1980s. Could the decade of my birth really be deemed retro already?

Two or three years ago I also stopped collecting watches.

I didn’t become obsessive and break the bank (at £10 to £15 a go from ebay they were a snip). No, I just realised that three watches for one person was (probably) enough.

Little did I know that, like the 80s itself, these watches are as good as disposable. To replace the batteries that have since died will cost at least £15.

In motor insurance terms, that makes these Film Watches a write-off.

On the plus side, a very good salesman at The Watch Lab valued each watch at £125 and almost convinced me that £15 for a battery was excellent value. £59.95 brand new more like.

He actually pouted at me when I said I’d think about it.