Be inspired and entertained at Manchester International Festival

Manchester International Festival (MIF) is back! The city will be filled with lots of free activities, gigs and DJs, awesome artwork, talks, walks, theatre and much more from June 29 to July 16.

The festival from Factory International has seen some incredible guest artists delight and often challenge crowds in spaces of all shapes and sizes – from car parks to concert halls. They have "crossed boundaries, leapt over them and broken through them."

Here is a round up of the highlights of this year's event -

Yayoi Kusama: Y ou, Me and the Balloons

Aviva Studios

June 30 - August 28

Tickets from £7.50

Kids will love exploring Yayoi Kusama’s larger-than-life, spectacular polka dot world in the exhibition You, Me and the Balloons. Bringing together three decades of the Japanese artist’s inflatables, this major installation allows you wander through Kusama’s psychedelic creations, many over 10m tall.

Book now

Ryan Gander: The Find

June 29 - July 16

Free, no booking required

This free treasure hunts takes place across the city, where special coins created by artist Ryan Gander have been hidden for you to find. If you stumble across one, pick it up and look closely. There are three designs to collect, each embellished with nuggets of wisdom to guide you and even help you make big, small or medium-sized decisions.

Find out more

Family weekends at Festival Square

Festival Square, Aviva Studios

Free, no booking required

From 10am every Saturday and Sunday during the Festival there will be super fun DJ sets and parties from the likes of Babyrocksampler, Band on the Wall, Our Kids Social and Z Arts. Plus there’ll be arts, crafts, poetry and storytelling.

Find out what’s on

Kusama Fashion Show

July 15, 10:30am-13:30pm