We’re little over a week away from the debut outing of the Manchester Weekender, a collection of ‘the best of Manchester’s art and culture’. From 1-3 October, for 48 hours, the city showcases itself through an unmanageably large number of events. I thought, therefore, it might be helpful to pick some personal highlights direct from the programme:

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at Manchester Art Gallery. A major new exhibition of interactive digital artworks by Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, including the world premiere of a large-scale installation People on People, a co-commission with AND festival. The Gallery hosts an evening of live electronica by Marconi Union alongside what’s being billed as ‘interactive activity’ from Lewis Sykes in its glass-roofed atrium.

Un-convention is one of the UK’s most eclectic independent music industry events containing much for those who just love (rather than work in) new music. Employing such unconventional spaces as a barge, Salford Lads’ Club and a church, featuring Bill Drummond, Jarvis Cocker, Jon McClure, Brian Travers and Kevin Cummins – all doing ‘interesting things in the most unexplored places in the city’ – with a travelling circus, music photography projected onto buildings, Colombian Hip Hop, Jah Wobble, the BBC Philharmonic and a brass band as well.

Contemporary Cartography //01 is a pocket map that provides an overview of what makes up the creative ecology of the city (via its contemporary galleries and underground art spaces) and, to celebrate its launch, there are a number of Contemporary Cartography Tours. The map coincides with the launch of Creative Tourist’s new iPhone app. – a guide to the art and culture of Manchester.

See Manchester by water where a family boat party connects the Manchester Ship Canal with the River Irwell and puts food by one of the Northwest’s top chefs, Robert Owen Brown, on the menu.

Hidden Manchester is a very special, secret tour to one of the city’s most spectacular, but rarely seen by the public, buildings created and led by the city’s most popular guide, the broadcaster and historian Jonathan Schofield, especially for the Manchester Weekender.

You can pick your own highlights, or read more about the above events, in Creative Tourist’s Weekender guide. There’s also a pdf guide to the Manchester Weekender.

VERY IMPORTANT
PLEASE NOTE

IT IS VITAL THAT YOU WEAR SENSIBLE SHOES WHEN YOU ATTEND THE PERFORMANCE OF
IT FELT LIKE A KISS AT THE MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL THAT YOU ARE
BOOKED IN FOR.

PEOPLE WEARING FLIP FLOPS, OPEN-TOED SANDALS OR HIGH HEELS WILL NOT BE
PERMITTED TO ENTER.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW THAT THE PERFORMANCE CAN TAKE CONSIDERABLY LONGER THAN
THE ADVERTISED 75 MINUTES. SOME PEOPLE ARE STAYING IN THE EVENT FOR UP TO 2
HOURS.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SHOW, OUR PERSONAL ADVICE IS TO HAVE A DRINK BEFORE
GOING! IT IS PRETTY SCARY!!

On the other hand, I know that people aren’t lasting the full duration. The theatre/film/music performance is generating as much chatter as Kraftwerk, which is obviously very impressive – even if the reviews haven’t been overly gushing.

It’s our 10th year anniversary and are celebrating by giving you the chance to win VIP tickets to see Antony and the Johnsons perform at Manchester Opera House on 3 July. Simply go to http://www.cityinn.com/tenth-anniversary/,  select the exclusive event you wish to be in the draw for and submit your email address.

The prize this time includes two tickets to the show and champagne reception, plus a room, three-course meal and full English breakfast for two people.

The chain is also offering the same prize for the Kraftwerk/Steve Reich show on 2 July – click here for more information.

Salford Film Festival is seeking short films and features for the Sixth Salford Film Festival, scheduled for the third week of November 2009, final dates to be confirmed. The Festival prides itself on having a local accent but a truly international perspective: We are particularly keen to receive work with a strong Salford connection (and failing that a Greater Manchester or North West focus), but we welcome submissions from all over the world.

Submission forms and contact details are available from the festival’s website. There’s no submission fee and the deadline’s still a while away – the end of August to be exact. Good luck.

Thought you’d be interested to know that the good people at Boosey & Hawkes are giving away 2 tickets to the sold out Kraftwerk/Steve Reich gig, complete with hotel, dinner and… backstage passes!

And in fact the prize includes two nights at the Radisson Edwardian, dinner at The Market Restaurant – plus a chance to meet Reich. To win, you need a Twitter account and then to visit @SteveReich for a series of questions. Check out the latest answers here, and get your own answers in by Friday.

The American composer (a bit of a hero of mine) will be having his new work 2×5 premiered by Bang on a Can at the Manchester Velodrome on 2 July. I’m sure you know what Kraftwerk are all about, but for an introduction to Reich’s music, visit his Myspace. Or if you fancy splashing out, I highly recommend this album by Powerplant, which features music by both.

Finally, I hear that a handful of tickets might be released nearer show time – so keep checking the MIF site if you don’t win.

07-18-2009 20:00

MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Dave Haslam presents

And all they had to do was hold out until the press launch at Manchester Art Gallery on 19 March!

Anyway, this could be good… at least we know that Haslam is as pro-Manchester as you’ll get – unlike Rufus Wainwright, who’s having a good go at making Manchester feel well and truly second best. He’s not exactly talking up his opera-writing skills either, is he? And he’s not even sure that it won’t be a disaster.

July looks set to be a fun month!

The first Manchester Twestival takes place on Thursday 12 February at the Living Room on Deansgate. Yup, you guessed it – it’s an event dedicated to all things Twitter. It seems the site’s really starting to take off… between my accounts I’ve gained over 30 followers in the past two days, for example, and Mancubist’s Twitter now has 125.

The event, which is one of over 100 being held simultaneously worldwide, is a fund-raising concern – it’s sponsored by those clever people over at Code Computer Love and will feature a charity auction. All monies raised globally will go to charity:water, which brings safe drinking water to developing countries.

Manchester Twestival begins at 6.30pm. You should register your interest here and buy a ticket for £4 here. And, of course, follow the festival’s MancTwester here.

The second event is on Friday 27 February. It’s called Speak to the Geek and, again, it’s a charity event. This time, a few self-proclaimed ‘internet techie experts’ are donating their knowledge and time to help non-profit organisations in the North West. Here’s how organiser Guy Dickinson explained it to me:

Basically, as a bunch of geeks, we’re trying to get our skills used into the community, and thought running a panel of internet strategy ‘micro consultancies’ for decision-makers in the non-profit sector would be a good start.

It takes place from 2pm until 4pm at the Manchester Digital Development Agency on Portland Street. Check out the Speak to the Geek blog for more information and to sign up.

This ‘12-hour music marathon’ takes place on Saturday 24 January at Jabez Clegg, just off Oxford Road, and – due to strong demand – Kro Bar next door, which is hosting a winter barbecue. I count about 50 bands confirmed so far – including personal recommendations the Longcut, its a buffalo, Ten Bears, Gideon Conn, Jo D of the Travelling Band and Islands Lost at Sea.

Tickets are £9 in advance from www.ticketline.co.uk, Piccadilly Box Office in Zavvi and on 0161 832 1111 – or, until Sunday evening, you can get a £7 early bird ticket here. There’ll also be some available from both venues, plus the Thirsty Scholar and Joshua Brooks.

Friends of Manchester is sponsored by Ben Sherman – but don’t let that put you off.

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.

Ladyfest Manchester: Starting tonight, Manchester’s annual celebration of women in the creative and cultural arts is a three-day event based at the much under-used Zion Arts Centre in Hulme. Open to all ages and sexes, it includes cabaret, theatre, cinema, arts, crafts and a particularly strong music strand, with bands including Sophie’s Pigeons, GeEk giRl (try typing that accurately at speed!), Hotpants Romance and Das Wanderlust, plus the event’s two biggest names, the Slits and Manda Rin (she who sang Kandy Pop with Bis). And Amelia Fletcher (of Tallulah Gosh/Heavenly) is a last-minute addition! Friday-Sun. £5-£25.

Manchester blogging workshops: Yes, Kate from the Manchizzle and I are back this month with three of our irregular blogging workshops. The first, tomorrow afternoon at the Manchester Digital Development Agency’s rather swish offices on Portland Street, is a ‘blog lab’ where we’ll aim to solve practical blogging problems (think feeds, stats, platforms, domains…) and discuss style and content. This is a drop-in session, but please let us know that you’re coming down – call 0161 236 5555 or email admin@manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk. Saturday, 1pm-3pm. Free

Timbreland Recordings Showcase: Timbreland is quite simply one of the best record labels in this town, with two of their artists, Nancy Elizabeth (Cunliffe) and Starless & Bible Black, right at the forefront of Manchester’s new folk scene. Pete from Starless will be playing solo tomorrow, alongside the excellent Winter Journey duo and Sally Murray, who I haven’t heard but will apparently appeal to Cat Power fans. This is at the rather lovely Art of Tea cafe (formerly Zero Records) on Barlow Moor Road. Saturday, 7.30pm. £4

[Photo by daresbalat]