Programme Revealed For 2025 Manchester International Festival

Factory International has announced the 2025 edition of Manchester International Festival (MIF) from Thursday 3 July to Sunday 20 July 2025, the first under new Creative Director Low Kee Hong.

 

Working with partners across the city and the world to build on the MIF legacy, the wide-ranging, multi-artform programme of groundbreaking world premieres will inspire fresh perspectives, challenge conventional thought and invite audiences to ‘dream differently' - envision new possibilities, brighter futures and utopian spaces. Presenting some of the most exciting creative minds of our generation, the programme champions indigenous artists and creators from the Global South, expanding the Festival's renowned international impact as well as fostering deep connections with local artists and communities in the North West of England.

 

Creative Director at Factory International, Low Kee Hong says: “It has been an incredible journey building the MIF25 programme with such a diverse range of artists from around the world whose voices are ever more critical in these challenging times. They encourage us to lean into visions of other possible futures, encounter cosmologies unfamiliar to our own, and enter into worlds that propose a re-enchantment of dreaming to rediscover our ability for joy, hope and belief in each other and our communities to build these tomorrows we want to be part of.”

 

Blackhaine, Eric Cantona, Edgar Davids, Juliet Ellis, FAFSWAG, Andy Field and Becky Darlington, Ryan Gander, John Grant, Shilpa Gupta, Germaine Kruip, Juan Mata, Amir Nizar Nuabi, Ntombizodwa Nyoni, Orchestral Qawwali Project, Paul Pfieffer Keiken, The Royal Ballet, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Rosabel Tan, Ella Toone, Venture Arts, Jonathan Watkins, Ed Watson, Josh Willdigg and Santiago Yahuarcani are just some of the names who will be contributing to this extraordinary bi-annual celebration of creativity in 2025.

 

The Festival celebrates Manchester as a global hub of creative innovation, presenting work throughout the city and surrounding areas. MIF25 is a celebration of homegrown artists returning to the region with many of the artists programmed originally coming from the North West. As well as welcoming artists from all over the world to venues across Greater Manchester,  the Festival is venturing further out than ever before with new work being presented in Rochdale and Wigan.

 

This year will be the first edition of the Manchester International Festival hosted within the fully operational Aviva Studios, home of Factory International. The festival will span Aviva Studios, partner venues such as HOME and the Royal Exchange, as well as unique found spaces on the city streets.

 

MIF25 will continue to build and strengthen its relationship with the people of Manchester and the North West with nearly 800 local people and 600 children taking part in this year's festival.

 

On the opening weekend hundreds of participants will join puppeteers in THE HERDS to parade animals made in Manchester through the city streets and beyond to open the festival. 160 young people will participate in a schools showcase taking over Festival Square and 489 school children from across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester will work alongside artists to create The Inheritance. 

 

There will also be three specific weekends of community activations curated and hosted by MIF's Neighbourhood Organisers, who will host afternoon showcases featuring cabaret, performance and comedy. 

 

The buzzing heart of MIF, Festival Square, returns with a free programme of live music and performances outside Aviva Studios, and this year also flowing indoors to the Social. There will also be a talks programme, to be announced in due course.

 

Digitally, Factory Settings launches a new project by award-winning design studio Superflux for MIF25. Marking the beginning of a long-term partnership, which will explore the ecological future of Aviva Studios' post-industrial site, the collaboration will launch with an augmented reality experience on the Factory Settings free AR app. 

 

This year's festival will also see six Factory Fellows working directly alongside creatives and production teams; 15 Factory Sounds artists, as well as 400 incredible Festival volunteers.

 

John McGrath, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Factory International says: “It has been such a delight to welcome Low Kee Hong to Manchester and to see his ideas for the future of MIF develop.  With a global outlook and deep local engagement, the 2025 edition of Manchester International Festival, curated by Kee Hong, promises to be an exciting new step in the story of this unique festival of new work from the world's great artists.  Our wonderful new year-round home, Aviva Studios, will form a joyful centre to the festival, while we also partner with artists and organisations across Greater Manchester to ensure a festival for everyone.”

 

Rivca Burns Head of Music at Factory International says: I'm very excited and honoured to share the first wave of music collaborations and shows for this year's festival! A collection of global and local artists that will bring special and one-off performances to Manchester and really challenge what live music can be. Alongside the return of Festival Square which will see hundreds of performances from musicians and artists of Greater Manchester. The music projects as part of this MIF are a celebration of collaboration, of the importance and power of grassroots of not just this City that we call home but the world, and it cements this building, Aviva Studios, as an international playground where truly magical and unexpected live performance can happen that welcome audiences and artists to the unknown. 

 

Councillor Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader, Manchester City Council said: “Manchester's worldwide reputation as a city of culture and the arts is in no small part thanks to Manchester International Festival and the groundbreaking new works it has presented every two years across the city since the very first festival back in 2007. This year's programme sounds just as brilliant with some amazing artists and creatives set to take over the city this July. As well as producing creative work that is consistently innovative, often spectacular, and always thought-provoking - much of which goes on to tour the world - the fantastic opportunities the festival also provides for local people of all ages to get involved, learn new skills, and play a part in its success, either as participants, staff, or as one of the festival's huge army of volunteers, make a real difference in the city and literally do help change lives for the good.”

 

Rebecca Ball Area Director, North, Arts Council England says “Manchester International Festival has a well-deserved reputation for programming pioneering work from across the creative spectrum and the 2025 programme is no exception. A fantastic array of national and International Artists and organisations will bring their creativity to Manchester for the first festival to be hosted within the fully-completed Aviva Studios, as well as collaborations with other city centre venues. It's also great to see that some events will take place in Rochdale and Wigan so local communities can experience the activities on their doorstep. Manchester International Festival brings audiences from far and wide to the city, while involving communities across Greater Manchester and bringing significant economic benefit. We're proud to support the festival and I look forward to experiencing some of the events over the summer.”

 

Tickets for MIF25 are on sale to Factory International members from 12.30 11 March and on general sale 10am 19 March.

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