Huge inflatable dolls and balloon sculptures - the exhibition you have to see at Manchester International Festival

Yayoi Kusama is one of the world's most loved artists, renowned and adored for her surreal paintings, sculptures and immersive environments, and now Manchester has a front row seat for her spectacular inflatable artworks.

Exhibiting at Aviva Studios, the new home of Factory International, Yayoi Kusama's 'You, Me and the Balloons' forms the centrepiece of Manchester International Festival which is taking over the city from June 29 to July 16. The festival will also see new work from artists including Ryan Gander, Maxine Peake, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tino Sehgal and Juan Mata, and music from John Grant, Angélique Kidjo, and Alison Goldfrapp.

While Aviva Studios does not officially open to the public until October, Kusama's artworks offer the first opportunity to explore the landmark arts and culture space. The inflatable dolls and balloon sculptures have taken over the vast warehouse space of the building, taking audiences on an exhilarating journey through Kusama's psychedelic creations, most of which have not been seen before in the UK.

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Conceived especially for the soaring spaces of Manchester International Festival's new home, 'You, Me and the Balloons' is Kusama's largest immersive environment to date and celebrates three decades of her inflatable artworks. Journeying through the warehouse space, visitors can expect to see numerous psychedelic creations - many over 10m tall - including giant dolls, spectacular tendrilled landscapes and a vast constellation of polka-dot spheres.

The new exhibition is without doubt a major moment for the North West's art and culture scene, even surpassing in scale Kusama's recent show 'Infinity