Factory International

Festival Square 2019

Festival

Square

Festival
Square

  1. Welcome
  2. Music
  3. Latest news
  4. Book now

For MIF19 we transformed Albert Square into Festival Square, the home of the Festival in the heart of the city. With free live music and DJs, great food and drink and more.

  1. Welcome
  2. Music
  3. Latest news
  4. Book now

Free live music & DJs – day and night
We presented an amazing programme of live music and DJs in the Square. With from the likes of Nitin Sawhney, The Orielles, Horace Andy, LIINES and many more – all absolutely free. Check out the line-ups below.

Fabulous food & drink
From British classics to Indian street food, coffee to craft beer, our Festival Square food traders were in residence throughout the Festival – and there were an amazing series of Supper Clubs and Lazy Lunches from some of the region’s top chefs. see more details here


A great new look
Nicolas Henninger (Office for Crafted Architecture) and Paloma Gormley (Practice Architecture) are gave Festival Square an exciting new look, with contributions from Standard Practice and students from Manchester School of Art, MMU.

Festival Square access information available here.

Live music

Fri 5 July

12.30 – 2pm
Jali
3 – 4.30pm
Baluji Shrivastav OBE
5.30 – 7pm
Manchester School of Samba
8 – 10pm
House of Ghetto
10pm – late
DJ Paulette

Sat 6 July

10am – 2pm
The Allotment Nannies & Mr Bloom Live
3pm- 4.30pm
Ex-Easter Island Head
5.30 – 6.15pm
Rise Like Lions
9 – 10pm
Nitin Sawhney
10pm – late
DJ Andrea Trout

Sun 7 July

12:30 - 1pm
Chief Ike
1pm - 1.30pm
Slam Stories
2pm - 2.30pm
Decaying Sphere
3pm - 3.30pm
Motown Gold
4pm - 4.30pm
Flamenco
5pm - 5.30pm
Orlyk Dancers
6pm - 6.30pm
Sounds of Anatolia
7pm - 7.30pm
New Islington Sessions
8pm - 8.30pm
Robert Maseko & The Nubeat
9pm - 9.30pm
Desi Jockeys
10pm - late
Chunky

Mon 8 July

12.00 - 2pm
NTS present Golden Ratio Frequencies
2 - 2.30pm
John Robb & Rowetta talk about Real Crime
3 - 4pm
Jade Parker
5.30 – 7pm
Reform Radio & Thirty Pound Gentleman present Soundcamp
8 – 10pm
Jenna & the G's
10pm – late
DJs Mary-Ellen McTague & Craig Potter (Elbow)

Tues 9 July

12.30 – 2pm
Chloe Foy
2.45 - 4.30pm
BBC Horizons presents Sera, Endaf & Darren Eedens hosted by Janice Long
5.30 – 7pm
Bethlehem Casuals
8 – 10pm
Riot Jazz
10pm – late
DJ Yoda

Wed 10 July

12.30 – 2pm
Lingua Franca World Music Agency present Henry Fung
2.45 - 4.30pm
BBC Horizons presents Eve Goodman, Rosehip Teahouse & Gwilym hosted by Huw Stephens
5.30 – 7pm
Together We Move
8 – 10pm
BBC Introducing Manchester Takeover presents Liam Frost, ARGH KID, Phoebe Green, OneDa & The Mouse Outfit (DJ)
10pm – late
Across the Tracks with DJs Justine Alderman & Martin Glynn

Thu 11 July

12.30–2pm
Marc Constantine
3-4.30pm
Kind Stranger
5.30–7pm
Electronic Empires
8–10pm
House Gospel Choir
10pm–late
DJ Hattie Pearson (Girls On Film)

Fri 12 July

12 – 2pm
Discovering Manchester City
3 - 4.30pm
Mind on Fire DJs
5.30–7pm
Wingspread
8 – 10pm
Fabaret! presented by A Queer Revue!, Trans Creative & Superbia
10 - Late
Homoelectric

Sat 13 July

Noon – 4pm
YESFAM Takeover
4-6pm
Anti Social Jazz Club
5-6pm
TBA
7 – 8pm
Stealing Sheep
8 – 10pm
Deptford Northern Soul Club
10pm –late
DJ Dave Haslam

Sun 14 July

12.20 – 2pm
NoTTwins present BeeLive with China Lilly, Emanuel J Burton, Pablo & ALEKS
3 – 4.30pm
Young Identity & Contact present One Mic Stand
5.30 – 7pm
KYSO
8pm – 12am
Horace Andy Soundsystem set with Blood & Fire*

Mon 15 July

12.30 – 2pm
Kara
3 - 4.30pm
Psychedelic DiscoTech plus guests
5.30 – 7pm
Chorus of Others
8 – 10pm
The Orielles & Working Men’s Club*
10pm – late
Psychedelic DiscoTech plus guests

Tues 16 July

12.30 – 2pm
Jon Kenzie
2.30 - 3pm
John Robb & Jordan Mooney talk Ballet
3 - 4.30pm
Matthew Whitaker
5.30 – 7pm
The 7:45s
8 – 10pm
The Blinders, Witch Fever & The Pagans SOH*
10pm – late
DJ Shell Zenner

Wed 17 July

12.30 – 2pm
Lingua Franca World Music Agency present The Tebu Project
3 - 4.30pm
Hannah Ashcroft
5.30 – 7pm
NoSpace
8 – 10pm
LIINES & Sink Ya Teeth*
10pm – late
DJ Jez Kerr ACR

Thur 18 July

12.30 – 2pm
One Little Atlas
2.30 – 4.30pm
DJ Tacostan
5.30 – 7pm
Aim Sky High
8 – 10pm
Children of Zeus with DRS, [KSR], Mali Hayes, KinKai, Abnormal Sleepz & EvaBee
10pm – late
Swing Ting featuring Fox, Lady Ice, HMD & Resident DJs

Fri 19 July

Noon – 1.15pm
Yemi Bolatiwa
1.35 - 2.10pm
Prima
2.35 - 3.10pm
Cosmo Calling
3.35 - 4.10pm
Evabee
4.30 - 5pm
Lottery Winners
5.10 - 6.10pm
In conversation with Andy Burnham, Peter Saville & Chunky
6.15- 6.25pm
Mike Garry - Poetry Recital
6.40 - 7pm
Leather Party
7.15 - 7.35pm
Lynchs
7.50 - 8.10pm
Grimm Twins
8.25 - 8.45pm
Slow Knife
9 - 9.20pm
See Thru Hands
9.35 - 10pm
Francis Lung
10pm - late
RebeccaNeverBecky & Kiss Me Again present Many4Manny

Sat 20 July

12.30 – 2pm
Lovescene & Danuka (So Flute)
3 - 4.30pm
Werkha
5 – 7pm
Tilt the Axis present Samrai, !higgiWahWah & more TBA
8 – 10pm
Skittles with 8 Gold Rings & The Untold Orchestra
10pm – late
Lost in Music with Natasha Kitty Katt

Sun 21 July

12.30 – 1.15pm
The Sunday Boys
2 – 3pm
Songs for Walter
4 – 5pm
Jubacana

Special Events

14 - 17 July
*Curated by Dave Haslam
Line-up & times subject to change
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Dave Haslam Presents…

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Festival Square 2019 Launch

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From drawing board to Festival Square

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What’s on the menu in Festival Square?

Book now

Enjoy Lazy Lunches with a stellar array of chefs at MIF19 or explore the city in a series of Walking Tours, all starting from Festival Square.

shows | May 8, 2019

The Guardian Tour: Power of the Word

shows | May 8, 2019

Future Manchester: What Comes Next for Our Cities

shows | May 8, 2019

Natural Manchester: The Manchester Bee and Other Stories

shows | May 8, 2019

Women of the Arts

JW Lees

Festival Square's official beer supplier, serving up beers, wines and soft drinks and a limited edition craft beer from The Boilerhouse

Honest Crust

Wood-fired pizzas and summer salads daily from Mackie Mayor & Altrincham Market favourite

Kala

Restaurant food on the go from Gary Usher's brand-new Kala

Manjit's Kitchen

Superb Indian vegetarian and vegan street food and snacks, all inspired by Manjit's Grandmother's recipes

Firebird Hope

Hatch favourite and YES resident, create a special Festival Square menu with free-range chicken thigh and homemade seitan

Idle Hands Coffee

Fresh coffee every day and espresso martinis by night, with tray bakes and the best vegan cherry pie

Ginger's Comfort Emporium

Inventive and irresistible ice cream with a new MIF19 inspired flavour - the perfect treat

Paul Heathcote & Friends

Lancashire legend Paul Heathcote curates a series of Supper Clubs and Lazy lunches

See you at MIF21

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