Mayfield Partnership becomes Manchester International Festival supporter for 2019

The Mayfield Partnership, the public private partnership responsible for delivering a £1 billion transformative regeneration of the Mayfield area of Manchester city centre, has signed up to become an Official Provider of the 2019 edition of the Manchester International Festival (MIF).

Staged every two years, MIF is the world’s first festival of original, new work, and brings together world-renowned artists from different art forms to create dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking premieres for Manchester.

The next Festival takes place 4 – 21 July 2019, with elements of MIF19 revealed later this year and the full programme announced early next year. MIF will also be the operator for The Factory, a new £110m world-class cultural space being built in Manchester and due to open late 2020.

Mayfield’s association with MIF stretches back to the fourth edition in 2013 when the atmospheric Mayfield Depot hosted a collaboration between documentary film maker Adam Curtis and Bristolian drum and bass pioneers, Massive Attack, as well as a series of other live art performances .

It also hosted a huge celebration of MIF’s ten-year anniversary which included a rare live performance from Four Tet and a 12-hour extravaganza headlined by Carl Craig and Mike Banks at MIF15, before the festival returned in 2017. For this edition, Mayfield was home to the programme launch announcement along with two unique events: What if Women Ruled the World?, a film and performance project by Yael Bartana, and 10000 Gestures, a performance of experimental choreography created by Boris Charmatz, which have since gone onto tour in Berlin, Bilbao, Aarhus, Jerusalem and Vienna.

Over the next few weeks, Mayfield will be host to two pre-Factory events. Between October 10^thand 21^st, eight performances of Heiner Goebbels’ Everything that happened and would happen will be held in the Mayfield Depot.

This will be followed in November (2^nd – 10^th) by a collaboration between MIF and the city’s leading dance music promoter – The Warehouse Project – for a series of unique nights in the Mayfield Depot called Special Edition.

Commenting on the sponsorship arrangement, James Heather, U+I’s Development Director for Mayfield, said: “From the very beginning MIF has been about creating unique experiences which cast the city in a different light around the world. Mayfield has contributed to this on a number of occasions as there is nothing quite like the Mayfield Depot as an events space in the city.

“The fit between MIF and Mayfield is perfect: both are about being world class, about creating world firsts and about being internationally ambitious, pushing boundaries to create something which stands out on a global stage.”

Jenny Mungall, Development Director at Manchester International Festival added: “All of us at Manchester International Festival are delighted that the Mayfield Partnership will support Festival ’19 as Official Providers. And of course delighted too, that we are back in the truly unique Mayfield Depot this Autumn for our series of Pre- Factory Events.

“We are a festival of extraordinary work, and the support of some 90 extraordinary partners across Manchester makes that possible. The role that the Mayfield Partnership, and others in Manchester’s business community, takes in supporting a culturally vibrant city is inspiring and something that we, as a Festival, are hugely grateful for.”

The members of the Mayfield Development Partnership welcomed the news.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Innovation and imagination are central to Manchester’s identity as a city. Both MIF and Mayfield are great examples of this and the two are a natural fit.”

David Joy, Chief Executive at LCR, said: “We are excited to welcome Manchester International Festival back to Mayfield with what are sure to be some of the top cultural events in the city. It is a privilege for the Mayfield Partnership to offer its support to what is fast becoming one of the most innovative and diverse festivals in the world, with a shared ambition of putting Manchester on the map as a leading destination to live, work and play.”

Mike Mellor, TfGM’s Head of Commercial, added: “One of MIF’s greatest strengths has been its strong partnerships with the other organisations and venues of its home city. We are glad to be supporting them so that they can continue to deliver world-class art and we can showcase this superb development at the heart of our city-region.”

The Mayfield Partnership is a joint venture between LCR, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and regeneration specialist U+I. Its long-term plan for Mayfield is to create an iconic, £1bn mixed-use community over the next 10 years, including a 6.5 acre park, and high quality commercial, residential and leisure facilities. The 24-acre site, next to Piccadilly Station, has been derelict for over a decade.

The wider Mayfield regeneration vision will potentially provide 1,300 homes, 75,000 sq m of office space, a 350-bedroom hotel, retail and leisure space. It is envisaged Mayfield will creating more than over 7,500 office, retail, leisure and construction jobs.