MIF25 IS UNDERWAY!
- STEVE COOKE AATA
- Jul 6
- 4 min read
Preview by Steve Cooke
2025 edition of the international biennial festival,MIF25, presented by Factory International, takes place across Manchester and beyond until Sunday 20 July 2025, with world premiere work presented every day.
MIF25 opened with a public artwork on an unprecedented scale, as THE HERDS, a monumental migration of life-sized puppet animals, journeys through Greater Manchester, taking over the streets of the city on their way from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle.
The world premiere of a new stage version of A Single Man, a partnership with the Royal Ballet and featuring music by John Grant; the launch of an exhibition of new work by artists and footballers, Football City, Art United.; and the world premiere of a powerful new play, Liberation, commissioned and staged 80 years after the Fifth Pan African Congress took place in Manchester in 1945, are amongst other highlights of the programme opening this weekend.
8000 tickets have been made available for £10 or less alongside free events across the Festival.
Manchester International Festival 2025 officially got underway with a herd of life-sized puppet animals stampeding through the streets of Manchester, travelling north to flee climate disaster. Created by The Walk Productions, the team behind ‘Little Amal’, and led by Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi, THE HERDS is visiting Manchester City Centre, and then Rochdale and Wigan as part of a 20,000 km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle. The public artwork is on an unprecedented scale and vividly dramatizes the climate crises.
MIF25 also sees the world premiere of a new stage version of Christoper Isherwood’s A Single Man at Aviva Studios, a co-production between Factory International and Royal Ballet. Created by Jonathan Watkins with new music by Jasmin Kent Rodgman and John Grant, who will also perform live, the world premiere of A Single Man will see former Royal Ballet Principal Ed Watson perform the central role.
Another world premiere that evening is Liberation at the Royal Exchange, a powerful new play by writer Ntombizodwa Nyoni, directed by Monique Touko. Commissioned and staged 80 years after the Fifth Pan African Congress took place in Manchester in 1945, Liberation explores the private lives of activists who fought to liberate Africa, exploring why their story remains relevant in 2025.
There is a rich visual arts programme across multiple sites through the city. Highlights include an exhibition at Aviva Studios featuring new work created by 11 pairings of artists and footballers, Football City, Art United. - a collaboration between World Cup and Champions’ League winner Juan Mata, renowned curator and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist and writer, filmmaker and curator Josh Willdigg; a thought-provoking sound installation by Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta at RISE Inavate Centre in Rochdale; and the first international solo exhibition of works by Santiago Yahuarcani, at the Whitworth Gallery.
Other highlights include new work by: Blackhaine, Juliet Ellis, FAFSWAG, Andy Field and Becky Darlington, Germaine Kruip, Orchestral Qawwali Project, Keiken Rosabel Tan, Hobbs Mary Anne Hobbs and Anna Phoebe, and Venture Arts.
Festival Square, the hub of Manchester International Festival, will take up residence again at Aviva Studios with a free programme of live music, performances, talks and family activities. In a celebration of sounds from across the region, the line-up features almost 200 artists, bands, DJs and musicians, many of them selected through an open call out for Greater Manchester artists. A series of afternoon talks from artists across the festival will take place offering behind-the-scenes insight into works taking place across the city.
The wide-ranging, multi-artform programme 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.
This year will be the first edition of the Manchester International Festival curated by Creative Director Low Kee Hong, and the first to be 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.
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. I can’t wait to welcome audiences to Manchester over the next 18 days.”
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.”
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