The festival includes a range of performing arts, music, visual arts, popular culture, theatre, dance as well as food and family events.

The Manchester International Festival is not taking place until July 2009 but it is a major event in the city and is possibly the major event of the summer period. Indeed, with so many different events planned, this has to be one of Manchester’s most important and high profile festivals of 2009. According to the event website:-

The 2007 Festival featured 25 world premieres and 3 international co-productions, generating 105 different activities in 25 different venues….the programme for 2009 …… is likely to be on a similar scale.

With around 5 months to go before the festival starts only a few of the events planned for the festival have been announced. These include:-

• Opera production of Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna, on 10, 12, 14, 17 & 19 July, at the Palace Theatre, Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6FT
• Manchester Art Gallery will be home to chamber music from Johann Sebastian Bach in a visual and sonic environment created by Zaha Hadid Architects. Concerts will take place on various dates from 3rd to 18th July at Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL
• The Royal Exchange Theatre is host to Everybody Loves A Winner by writer-director Neil Bartlett, from 1st – 18th July 2009. The Royal Exchange Theatre is located in St Anns Square, Manchester, M2 7DH.

More details about the festival are emerging all the time.

For full and up to date details of festival events, please visit the event website, www.mif.co.uk.

Manchester, England is an impressive city by any standards. It is home to more than

450,000 people. It is a dynamic, diverse, thriving city with a proud history and an international outlook. Manchester’s diversity means that there is something for everyone here.

Manchester simply is one of the UK’s principal tourist destinations. Visitors who have come to Manchester describe their time here as more than an unforgettable visitor experience, but an experience that can rival and exceed those of tourists to London.

Manchester is well served by museums, galleries and exhibitions. Its restaurants, bars and entertainment venues are known regionally, nationally and internationally.

The City has a range of theatres, not just in Manchester itself, but across the Greater Manchester area. Manchester is host to numerous outdoor concerts and entertainment events each year and there are many, many places of interest in and around the Greater Manchester area.

Manchester is home to two world famous football teams – Manchester United, based in Old Trafford and Manchester City based in the City of Manchester Stadium. Manchester is home to world famous entertainment venues including the Manchester Apollo, Manchester Opera House, The Bridgewater Hall, The Royal Northern College of Music, City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester’s Palace Theatre and the Manchester Evening News Area.

Manchester is at the centre of Greater Manchester, an exciting, vibrant Greater Manchester urban area of nearly 2.3 million people. The Greater Manchester metropolitan area includes 9 separate Boroughs that have their own distinct character and traditions – Bury, Bolton, Oldhan, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan. The greater Manchester area is an area of great contrasts with urban lanscapes close by beautiful countrysite.

Perhaps the best thing is that Manchester is near so many other areas of interest. The Lake District is no more than 90 minutes away by car and the Midlands is about 70 minutes away. London is only 4 hours south, by car. Manchester is easy to get to from London by road and rail and Manchester’s large international airport, Manchester Airport makes it very easy to fly to Manchester. All this means that Manchester is a great place to live, work, play and do business!