Every couple of years they hold the Manchester International festival with various events dotted around the city. They do however always have a central hub and in 2023 this was based at the new Manchester Aviva Studios. It has been constructed on the former site of Granada TV studios and is located on Water Street which can be accessed either via Liverpool Road from the Deansgate side or New Quay Street from the Spinningfields side.
The germination of the idea occurred following George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse announcement in 2014, where £78m was pledged to build a purpose-built cultural space in central Manchester. It was remarkably UK’s biggest investment in a culture project since the Tate Modern in 2000.
Manchester Aviva Studios. Image Credit confidentials.com
It is run by Factory International and Aviva paid £35m for the naming privileges. It subsequently opened in June 23, but was somewhat predictably £130m over budget and 4 years behind schedule. Contained within is a 1600 seat flexible theatre and an open industrial 5000 capacity space.
The opening event was the Yayoi Kusuma psychedelic exhibition You, Me and The Balloons and this was latterly followed by a Matrix style dance event directed by Danny Boyle. They will stage sporadic music events with Underworld already having performed there and Richard Thompson and Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief playing later this year. The Studios have had mixed reviews thus far with accusations as to whether it could be classed as white elephant, but I will let others make their judgement on that potential synopsis.
In an adjoining outdoor space, in the first fortnight of July they set up the Manchester Aviva Studios Festival Square overlooking the River Irwell and the shamefully underused Ordsall Chord (Castlefield Curve) which runs between Oxford Road and Victoria train stations.
There was a stage set up and a choice of food outlets and the first ever beer vending machine I have encountered. There were events all day and as it was less than 10 minutes’ walk from the office I filled my boots with bonus gigs every lunchtime and post-work where I could.
I assisted this approach by changing my commute to the metro, to ensure I could head to the nearby Deansgate station for the tram home. The festival programme coincided with the annual Castlefield Bowl events, and I passed the entrance on a couple of occasions where there were hordes of fans gathering for Pulp and Hozier gigs.
Aviva Studios Festival Square. Image Credit prestigeeventsmagazineblog.com
The first act I saw on the lunchtime on 04/07 was Vulva Voce, who are an all-female string quartet but with added improvisation of folk aspects to the mix. They evolved from the nearby Royal National College Music (RNCM) and they were the winners of Nonclassical’s Battle of the Bands in 2023. On the evening visit that day I witnessed a young R&B singer from Wolverhampton called Karis Jade.
The following lunchtime I saw Mabon Jones, Dan Springate and Carmen Snickersgill who were badged under the local Bothy Project who promote chamber music in Manchester. On the teatime jaunt I met Gill, and we grabbed some food there whilst watching Emer (Fat Out) and a R&B artist called Chyrsalid Homo. The best act was Lavender Rodriguez (or alternatively just Lavender) who was born in Hampshire but now Manchester based who provided a pleasing slab of heavy afro-beat sounds.
Lavender Rodriguez. Image Credit aah-magazine.co.uk
The following week I caught K’in Ensemble, a 15-piece fusion collective again deriving from RNCM who combine classical, pop and jazz musicians from Mexico and many European countries. I also witnessed part of a set from Jenna G. There was then another Bothy Project featuring musicians Jenny Dyson, Lady Lamp and Alice Roberts. Krin was the next act I saw who mashed up West African drums with techno. The final act of the festival for me was Nxdia who born in Cairo in Egypt before moving to the UK at the age of eight. She retains the heritage of her youth by singing in both English and Arabic.