The best: Free things to see and do at Manchester International Festival 2025

Venturing across the urban landscapes and verdant climes of Greater Manchester in a region-wide exploration of the climate crisis, THE HERDS reimagines animal migration through jaw-dropping puppetry which transports the public on a 20,000km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle.

In the showpiece opening event of MIF25, THE HERDS presents a series of timely and thought-provoking questions about our environmental future through a visual dramatisation of the climate emergency, and issues a stark warning of a dark, desolate world in which animals are forced to flee their natural habitats.

The displaced ‘herd’ arrives first in Manchester City Centre from 6pm on Thu 3 Jul, disrupting an orchestral performance by Manchester Camerata as they take over the town, infusing music with mayhem from Cathedral Gardens to Market Street.

Then, seeking solace in nature, the creatures move onto the suburban climes of Heywood on Fri 4 Jul (7pm)before venturing further into the wild in Pennington Flash Country Park on Sat 5 Jul (1-4pm).

Billed as a public art project on an unprecedented scale, THE HERDS features 70 life-sized puppets operated by local participants and rendered in stunning detail by the international team behind Little Amal, created by The Walk Productions and led by Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi.

Find out more below.

Festival Square, the wildly popular outdoor live music and performance space described as ‘the buzzing heart of MIF’, is officially returning to Aviva Studios with a blockbuster programme of free daily concerts and artistic showcases.

With a schedule curated to spotlight the best emerging local talent alongside legendary DJs and takeovers by iconic Manchester venues and promoters, this year’s Festival Square highlights include Victoria Jane, Transmission Towers, Dave Haslam, Krump Jam and many more.

There’s also an array of free talks and Q&As, as well as family-friendly entertainment and an assortment of incredible food and drink, including beer from Madri, Thai cuisine from Super Serve, Indian street food from Bundobust and delicious wings from Trading Route. On weekends, Ginger’s Ice Cream Emporium are on hand with their irresistible range of scoops, while the Honest Crust team join forces with Shaun Moffat for a pizza pop-up in aid of EatWell MCR.

Check out the full programme below.

Throughout the festival, the award-winning Venture Arts host a laid-back pop-up studio filled with art, movement, music, live performances and interactive workshops, led by local artist Michael Beard.

Between Fri 4 and Sun 20 Jul, the Aviva Studios Lab offers an immersive and captivating insight into the creative process, where visitors can discover how working environments impact creativity as Michael produces large-scale works in real time.

On Sun 6, Tue 8 and Tue 15 Jul, Michael joins a troupe of talented dancers from Company Chameleon and a chamber musician from Manchester Camerata, the city’s trailblazing orchestra, for an enthralling live performance in which the trio respond to each other’s work and embrace the boundless potential of collaboration across disciplines.

When Michael is not working, the Lab welcomes a range of Venture Arts creators who exhibit a wide array of art and creative projects as well as FREE bookable workshops.

Find out more below.

Over at HOME, the acclaimed Queer Indigenous collective FAFSWAG take over HOME with a specially created showcase exploring transformation and ritual, fantasy and futurism, the environment, cultural languages and spirituality, featuring spectacular digital art, live cultural ceremony and a programme of talks grounded in Pacific identity, heritage and culture,.

Billed as a joyous and thought-provoking celebration of cultural exchange and storytelling, FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE offers a compelling response to the inherently precarious concept of ‘home’ for peoples in a perpetual state of exile. Over two years, FAFSWAG artists were invited to create a ceremonial house in which ancestral stories from the Pacific Diaspora of Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Moana can flourish.

An Inheritance takes over Manchester Art Gallery with an original, audacious and inter-generational tribute that stretches across the coming century, developed as collaboration between young people, creatives and visitors throughout the five-month exhibition.

Working with artists Andy Field, Beckie Darlington and Rosabel Tan, over 500 primary school children from Greater Manchester have gathered their wisdom, jokes and advice alongside an array of modern objects to create a time capsule that will be left to the youth of 2125.

An Inheritance asks visitors to contemplate the world we live in now, the legacy we leave behind and the foundations of being a good ancestor, and invites participants to explore the collection while contributing advice of their own.