Our Man will soon be travelling to London. Send him your tips for the coolest, quirkiest places to visit.
The Brighton Arts Festival goes from strength to strength every year. Edinburgh will always have the Fringe. But now there's a new kid on the festival circuit: after months spent securing cutting-edge commissions and pioneering contributors to fit its environmental ethos, brace yourself for the long-awaited arrival of the first ever, Manchester International Festival. Known as MIF, to its friends, it will kick off on 28 June and run until 15 July. With specially commissioned cultural treats across the full spectrum of the arts – not to mention premieres and one-offs by the spadeful – there's only one place to spend your summer. With its unique blend of cultural dynamism and environmental awareness, MIF aims to be fully carbon neutral by the time of the third festival, providing a model for other large-scale events, including the 2012 London Olympics. As official green sponsor of MIF, Virgin Trains will be providing transport for performers, organisers and VIP guests on our eco-friendly Pendolino trains.
Chinese circus opera meets British pop culture in this ambitious collaboration between director Chen-Shi-Zheng, polymath composer Damon Albarn and Gorillaz animation artist Jamie Hewlett. Expect a cross-cultural corker of a show, featuring dozens of Chinese acrobats and martial artists, a groundbreaking original score and a wealth of stunning animation.
Everyone's favourite techno-chef drops into Manchester for a fortnight of gastronomic wizardry. Follow your nose towards the Festival Pavilion for a taster of Heston Blumenthal's innovative culinary combinations for the summer months. Just beware the bacon and egg ice cream...
Cuba's dancing phenomenon Carlos Acosta brings his inimitable brand of ballet to the Lowry. His new show 'Tocororo: A Cuban Tale' combines existing work with biographical material to tell the story of how a would-be footballer growing up in poverty went on to dazzle audiences as diverse as Fidel Castro and the Queen with his astonishing footwork.
If your idea of dancing is more likely to involve bouncing up and down with a plastic pint glass, you might be interested in Perverted by Language, a collection of short stories inspired by Manchester band The Fall. Stewart Lee, Rebecca Ray and Andrew Holmes will all read from the book before the legendary band behind it all takes to the stage for an intimate live set. Fans of music with a more contemporary twist should head over to the Manchester Academy for the Unknown Pleasures programme of up-and-coming acts. Headliners include Wombats, Findlay Brown, Bat For Lashes and The Noisettes, a band described in the MIF programme as 'a bit like Joey Santiago taking a clawhammer to the back of Siouxsie Sioux's head round the back of a PJ Harvey gig.' Curious?
Love him or hate him, Salman Rushdie's extraordinary prose inspires artists of every discipline. This world premiere retells the story of Rushdie's epic novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet in the form of a full-length concert piece, punctuated by narration, singing and film footage from acclaimed director Mike Figgis. It's only in town for one night, though, so book early.
If you're after a bit of local colour, where better to begin than with a tour of the Manchester Firsts exhibitions? This collection of work comes from artists and organisations living and working within the local community. Exhibits to look out for include Rachel Davies' The Assembly – a video installation based on the artist's experiences as a member of the Manchester Girl's Choir – and Shisha's The Rusholme Project. This series of site-specific artworks reflect Manchester's South Asian influences and will be open to visitors at Whitworth Art Gallery and the Rusholme Job Centre Plus.
