Factory International

MIF25

Balmy Army x Balmy UKRAINE

Free to attend – no booking required
Photograph from a march through Manchester City Centre as part of MIF23. It shows people holding a large banner that reads 'Balmy Army'. Photograph from a march through Manchester City Centre as part of MIF23. It shows people holding a large banner that reads 'Balmy Army'.
Date
8 - 10 Jul 2025
Venue
Contact, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA
Free to attend – no booking required

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

Balmy Army, Manchester’s art, activism and mutual care project for young people, is back to heal and help our mental health with a takeover at Contact during MIF25.

With emotional wobbles, messy feelings and sadness about it all. With maximum Joy, all the lols and dignified defiance we’ve been asking  ‘What do we deserve?’ and ‘What do we demand?’

Balmy Army is a movement for youth-led mental health started by artist the vacuum cleaner for the 2023 edition of Manchester International Festival.

For the past 18 months, young people impacted by the mental health crisis have been meeting up, making, sharing their visions, checking in, checking out, laughing, sometimes crying and bringing together their demands. In Spring 2025, they’re connecting with young people from Ukraine for a special takeover of Contact.

Join the Balmy Army for three days of art, love, joy, rage, the activism of staying alive and a celebration of Greater Manchester’s wonkiest young people, with a few Ukrainian friends.

Expect informal sharing events – like a wonky relaxed cabaret of poems, song and the next generation of performance art. A take-over of Asylum magazine. Banner drops. A special film screening from Balmy UKRAINE and an open forum for young people to rage, disassociate and be heard (and in which adults just have to listen).

Balmy’s back baby. Back again. 

“Balmy Army is the next generation of radical disabled art imagining something truly tender, kind and better than what we have. A perfect chance for messy young people to be together, but all are welcome, even sane people. It’s going to be soft, funny and messy.”

the vacuum cleaner

Manchester International Festival 2025

A bold, artistic graphic with the words "DREAM Differently" in yellow text against a red and pink gradient background with a grainy texture.
MIF is back – inviting you to leap into the unknown with some of the most exciting creative minds of our generation.
Explore the festival →

Get in touch

If you are aged 14 to 25 and want to use art to challenge the failures in mental health care, WhatsApp Balmy Army on +447723633581.

Credits

A project by the vacuum cleaner in partnership with Contact. Presented as part of Manchester International Festival 2025. Originally commissioned and produced by HOME and Factory International for Manchester International Festival 2023.

A project ignited by ‘the vacuum cleaner’ with Evyn Seaton-Mooney and Toni-Dee Paul.

Shout out to Alexis from 42nd Street (we love you Alexis), Sian from Manchester Mind, Ukraine’s Art Therapy Force, Anna Burdina (so much love), and all at Contact but special shout out to Beth for the deep work of safeguarding young people. Love for Claire from Arts Council England. 

This project is funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, using public funding by Arts Council England, and The Baring Foundation.

Image: Chris Payne

Access information

The full address of the venue is Contact, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA and the what3words is arrive.belly.sake.

The venue can be approached from Oxford Road or from Grafton street, turning on to Oxford Road.

There are accessible toilets on the ground and first floor. There are male and female toilets on the ground floor, and gender neutral toilets on the first floor.

Assistance dogs are welcome at Contact, Contact asks that they have some formal identification in the form of a branded jacket or lead slip.

Registered Emotional Support Dogs are allowed in Contact’s performance spaces on a case-by-case basis.

All performance spaces have wheelchair access. Lift access and accessible toilet facilities are available throughout the building.

This event is still in development. We will update this page when we have more information to share about the layout of this event.

Contact Access Information →

Travel information

Contact is 1.2 miles from St Peter’s Square tram stop and 1.3 miles from Deansgate-Castlefield Tram Stop.

Contact is 0.9 miles from Oxford Road Train Station, 1.1 miles from Ardwick Station, 1.2 miles from Piccadilly Station, and 1.3 miles from Deansgate-Castlefield Train Station.

If you’re cycling to Contact, there are a limited number of covered bike stands available. These are located to the left of the building entrance.

There is also a cycle hire bank at the corner of Dilworth Street and Oxford Road. Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

Buses run every few minutes on Oxford Road from the City Centre, train stations and South Manchester (Rusholmedirection).

The closest stop is near to Manchester Academy.

Bus routes include 111, 142, 143, 18, 41, 43, 53, 191, 197. Take a look at TFGM’s bus information for further details: https://tfgm.com/ways-to-travel/bus

The venue does not have a car park but there are several nearby, such as the University of Manchester car park on Cecil Street, and Q-Park Manchester Hospitals.

For Blue Badge holders, please contact boxoffice@contactmcr.com to book a parking spot.

Contact is 1.8 miles from Aviva Studios. There are a number of bus routes you can take between the venues, including V1, V2 and 50 from Bridge Street.

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