The 16th Viva! Spanish & Latin American Film Festival will be hosted at the Cornerhouse, (70 Oxford St, Manchester, M1 5NH) from Saturday 6th to Sunday 27th March 2010.

Although full details are not available at the time of writing, highlights will include:-

Paraguayan comedy Mal Día Para Pescar
La vergüenza, a Spanish family drama
Catalan coming-of-age tale Little Indi
Guest appearances from award-winning writer-director Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón and short filmmaker Luis Arambilet

The festival has been extended to include Spanish and Latin American art with an exhibition of the work of Mexican artist Carlos Amorales who will be presenting his inter-media installations Psicofonias (2008) and Discarded Spider (2008).

You can find out more about the festival, get up to date details about whats on and join the Viva! mailing list on the Viva! festival website.

School holidays just got better with the news that at February half term there is going to be some great extraterrestrial fun with ‘Out of this World’ adventures from February 13th until February 21st 2010.

Firstly, there is something for Dr. Who fans, (young and old), with the arrival at the Mall on Saturday, 13th February (11:00 am – 3:00 pm) of Classic Dr Who characters played by Hyde Fundraisers to raise money for BBC Children in Need. You will be able to meet Dr Who and other popular characters such as K-9, Ogron, Classic Cyberman, Tetrap, Heamovore, Silurian, Davros, Exillon, Draconian and Auton, and no Children In Need fundraiser would be complete without a surprise visit from Pudsey Bear.

On Sunday 14th February and Friday 19th February the Mall is hosting Intergalactic Games Day (10:00 am-4:00 pm – every half hour). Games include Space Hopping, Mars Racing and Satellite Spinning. There is a space academy medal for everyone taking part and there will be a prize for the best space cadet in each group.

There is Alien face painting on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th February, (11:00 am – 4:00 pm both days) and there is the Floating Space Ships Craft Workshop on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th February (11:00 am – 4:00 pm both days) where kids can make their very own helium space ship.

On Saturday 20th February there is another opportunity to meet Dr Who characters, (11:00 am – 3:00 pm) but this time Hyde Fundraisers will be raising money for BBC Children in Need when they perform as Modern Dr Who Characters including Judoon, Santa, Ood Sigma, Host, Scarecrow, Hath, Donna Noble, Clockwork Droid and, of course, Pudsey Bear!

The following day, Sunday 21st February, kids can learn to moonwalk, Michael Jackson style, with the Learn to Moonwalk workshop. (11:00 am, 12:30pm, 2:00 pm and 3:30pm (30 minute sessions)). This dance session will feature dance movement, moonwalking, hip-hop and a body popping workshop for all those far out performers.

Get directions and keep up to date with whats happening at the Lowry Outlet Mall website.

Artists Rooms, an exhibition of striking sculptures by acclaimed artist Ron Mueck starts in Manchester on Thursday 4th February 2010. On show are Wild Man (2005), Spooning Couple (2005) and Mask III (2005).

The exhibition, takes place at Manchester Art Gallery, (Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL) and lasts from Thursday 4 February to Sunday 11 April 2010. Entry to the exhibition is free.

Find out more at the galleries website, here.

Examples of Mueck’s work can be found on this You Tube video.

Join the celebrations over two weeks in March 2010 when Manchester plays host to one of the worlds largest and most popular Irish Festivals. Festivities start in earnest with a Launch Night at Manchester Town Hall on Friday 5th March 2010.

The Manchester Irish Festival took place for the first time in 1996 and has grown to the amazing extravaganza it is today. The Irish Festival features two hundred events at more than 30 different venues across Greater Manchester.

Lawrence Hennigan, marketing executive of the Manchester Irish Festival website said………

“This years festival will feature two weeks of Art, Culture, Comedy, Community, Dance, Music, Sport and Theatre events, making it one of Europe’s biggest Irish Festivals. We have tried to include something for everyone to enjoy in the community and a warm Irish welcome awaits all our visitors.”

For many the highlight of the celebrations is the St Patricks Day Parade on Sunday 14th March. Last year the parade commenced at 12 noon at the Irish World Heritage Centre, 10 Queens Road, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 8UF and then progressed down Cheetham Hill Road towards Manchester town centre, ending up, after a couple of hours in Manchester’s Albert Square.

In addition to the official Festival from the 5th to the 21st there are a variety of pre and post festival events from February through to April 2010. There is a detailed website for the whole of the festival at ManchesterIrishFestival.co.uk which has full details of all festival events.

Portraits for Posterity is a project begun by Jacki Reason and Jan Marsh, in 2007. In order to reach their goal they were joined by professional photographer Matt Writtle. Together, they had one simple goal – to photograph survivors of the Holocaust living in Britain today and by doing so make a lasting record for generations to come.

Pictures from their collection have been displayed elsewhere in the country but this is the first time they have been on display in Manchester.

Portraits for Posterity’s exhibition in Manchester Town Hall, starts on Wednesday 27th January and has been timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day 2010. The exhibition consists of a series of photographs of survivors of the Holocaust, who are now resident in Manchester. Each portrait is accompanied by a short biography.

The exhibition runs from Wednesday 27th January to Saturday 20th February 2010. It will be located in the Sculpture Hall in Manchester Town Hall (Albert Square, Manchester, M60 2LA) and entrance is free.

The project’s website can be found at PortraitsforPosterity.com and London based photographer Matt Writtle’s website can be found here.

The day start off at 11:00am when the traditional market opens up in Chinatown and celebrations continue on into early evening around 7:00pm.

This year is the Year of the Tiger (February 14, 2010 – February 2, 2011). Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of all the traditional Chinese holidays and Manchester is proud to host these celebrations.

Chinese New Year celebrations in Manchester are always very popular. Every year thousands and thousands of people from Manchester and the rest of the UK come here to join in the celebrations. This is a great, family friendly day out.

This year festivities will be centered around Albert Square, next to Manchester Town Hall in the centre of the city and Manchester’s world famous Chinatown, next to Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens.

According to the event website entertainment includes……….

“Dragon and Lion Dances, Parade, Money God distributes Lucky Red Packets, Kung Fu demonstrations by the legendary Shaolin Martial Arts Monks, Award-winning acrobatics, Folk dance performances, Hundreds of street stands including free tasting, arts & craft, jewellery and food stalls and Art workshops for children….”

For many the highlight of the day will be the Golden Dragon Parade. Last year the parade started in Albert Square and made its way through the streets of Manchester finishing, in China Town itself. To round the day off there will be a spectacular firework display, from around 6pm onwards.

Here is a very short video from last years celebrations which also shows the spectacular Chinese Arch in the centre of Chinatown……

Further details about the event can be found on the organisers website. The site will also tell you more about hiring a stall at the Chinese New Year market and you will also find details about the Chinese New Year Celebration Banquet on Monday 15th February 2010.

Of course there are hundreds, if not thousands of Manchester venues and organisations on Twitter that you can ‘follow’.  ManchesterWide.com has its own Twitter stream on Twitter.com/ManchesterWide

We thought you might appreciate a few more links to help you keep on top of all the great  things
that are going on in our great city.

Lets start with the 10 Greater Manchester councils – everything from bins advice to ‘whats on’ advice …….

Bolton Council http://twitter.com/boltoncouncil
Salford Council http://twitter.com/SalfordCouncil
Wigan Council http://twitter.com/WiganCouncil
Trafford Council http://twitter.com/TraffordCouncil
Stockport Council http://twitter.com/StockportMBC
Tameside Council http://twitter.com/TamesideCouncil
Rochdale Council http://twitter.com/rochdalecouncil
Bury Council http://twitter.com/BuryCouncil
Manchester City Council http://twitter.com/ManCityCouncil
Oldham Council – Not Found

If you plan to visit Manchester, or you are looking for something special to go to, then follow
http://twitter.com/visit_mcr, the place on Twitter for Visit Manchester, the official tourist board for Greater Manchester.

Here is a selection of some of the many other great Manchester related venues/ organisations you can follow on Twitter.com…….

BBC Radio Manchester
http://twitter.com/bbcradiomanc

Royal Exchange Theatre
http://twitter.com/rxtheatre

Band On The Wall, Swan Street,
http://twitter.com/bandonthewall

Palace Theatre and Opera House Manchester
http://twitter.com/PalaceAndOpera

Oldham Coliseum Theatre
http://twitter.com/oldhamcoliseum

Library theater, Manchester
http://twitter.com/librarytheatre

The Met theatre, Bury
http://twitter.com/themet

The Lowry Art & Entertainment Centre, Salford
http://twitter.com/The_Lowry

Cornerhouse arts centre, Manchester
http://twitter.com/CornerhouseMcr

Greenroom Theatre, Mancherster
http://twitter.com/greenroommcr

The Whitworth art Gallery
http://twitter.com/WhitworthArt

Museum of Science and industry
http://twitter.com/voiceofmosi

Manchester Airport
http://twitter.com/Manairport

Creative Tourist
http://twitter.com/creativetourist/

Did you find this list useful. Would you like a longer list? Tell me what you think, and add your favourite

Manchester related Twitter streams in the space below – No adult, political or bad taste stuff, though…….  )

This is the third Manchester Urbanathlon and it is likely to be bigger and better than ever before. This is a totally original urban obstacle course where you run, climb, crawl, slip, slide, scramble and dangle through the challenging marathon. Start on the 2002 Commonwealth Games track, stagger up the `Stairway to Heaven` at the MCFC stadium, take on the fireman’s water slide, pick your way through the spiders web, scramble up the giant haystack, attack the rock climbing wall, vault over derelict cars and much, much more!!

Start times are from 11.00am onwards with starting waves every 20mins, so there is no queuing at obstacles!

This is a great opportunity for almost everyone, from weekend warriors and fun runners to uniformed services and charity runners. Competitors receive a limited edition t-shirt and finishers medal.

After the race you can join the family friendly ‘Party in the Park’ festival in Phillips Park with a fun fair, live music, arts festival and loads more to do. All in all this is a great day out with something for everyone.

Urbanathlon’s nominated event charity is StreetGames UK (streetgames.org), a national charity which develops sport with disadvantaged communities and makes sport accessible to young people regardless of their social circumstances.

The marathon has a dedicated website urbanathlon.co.uk which has lots more information, including details of participation fees, race sponsorship forms, advice on training and you can also download the event application form from the site.

For more information about Urbanathlon 2010 contact them on 0845 1300849 or email info@urbanathlon.co.uk.

The M.E.N Arena (Victoria Station, Manchester, M3 1AR) will be hosting the Yonex 2010 European Individual Badminton Championships on the 14th to 18th April 2010.

The European Badminton Championships is a tournament organised by Badminton Europe, the governing body of badminton in Europe, since 1968.

The competition will showcase the badminton skills of many of the sports best athletes in one of Manchester’s premier arena venues.

The European Badminton Championships in Manchester will let fans of the sport across the North West see Badminton’s top sports men and women competing for the prestigious European Championship prizes.

The schedule for the event is as follows……….

Wednesday 14th April: 10.00-21.00 approx.(1st & 2nd Rounds – 5 courts)
Thursday 15th April: 10.00-22.00 approx. (2nd & 3rd Rounds – 5 courts)
Friday 16th April: 18.00-22.00 approx. (Quarter-Finals – 4 courts)
Saturday 17th April: 14.00-19.00 approx. (Semi-Finals – 2 courts)
Sunday 18th April: 12.00-19.00 approx. (Schools Final, Championships Show & Finals – 1 court)

Further information about the Championship can be found at European Badminton where you can find out more about the competiotion and about how to obtain tickets for the event.

Cancer Research UK is holding a charity fundraising walk, called Shine Manchester, in and around central Manchester on the evening of Saturday 17th April 2010 and both men and women over 16 years of age can apply to take part.

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research and their work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has saved millions of lives.

The event is a unique night-time charity fundraising walking marathon that is likely to be very popular in the City.

Participants will raise money by walking a designated route through Manchester passing well known landmarks along the way. Participants will have the option of embarking on the full marathon (26 miles) or 13 mile half marathon.

They can chose from 12 different types of cancer to fundraise for such as Ovarian cancer, Lung cancer, Leukemia or Prostate cancer.

Shine Manchester 2010 will start at Manchester Central (formerly GMEX) at 10.00 pm on the 17th.

The route includes large sections of Manchester town centre and goes as far south as Withington and Burnage and west to the Trafford Centre. The route takes in many of the city’s greatest sites such as Old Trafford, Manchester Town Hall and Cancer Research UK’s The Paterson Institute.

You can apply to take part now and it costs £30.00 per person.

You can also find out much more about the event on the Shine Manchester website where you can learn about the different ways you can raise money for Shine and all the different ways you can get involved.