CityLife

Free For Arts - sounds good to us!

IF there’s one thing Manchester has always been good at doing, it’s celebrating its own.

Free For Arts Festival is founded on that principle, firstly to uncover the lively community of artists working in Manchester, but secondly to emphasise the buoyancy of the city’s current art scene.

There’s 12 exhibitions and eight nightly events open from Friday until October 9. In the galleries, there’s paintings, installations, performance and interactive art, while in the late night venues there’s film, theatre, music, pub quizzes and cabaret.

And it’s not just about what’s going on indoors, either. Across the eight days, you’ll stumble on the odd bit of outdoor art, including Phoebe Myer’s flags, which play with the big questions of national identity and will be flying everywhere from Dale Street to the Triangle.

“It is often hard to get public interest in our own art as students, but by listing our art exhibitions alongside more dynamic live events, the public keep a keen interest in what we’re doing as well as the daily performances,” say festival organisers Lois Macdonald and Helen Collett.

“Having a festival made up of many art exhibitions and events running alongside each other at the same time just feels like quite an exciting and active way to exhibit in the world of art.”

Various venues. Visit freeforartsfestival.co.uk for a full programme.