Liverpool Biennial: 14-week contemporary arts festival

Liverpool Biennial, the largest festival of contemporary art in the UK, is almost upon us. The full programme was recently announced and there are, of course, too many events to be summarised here, but hopefully this brief preview will give you something of a flavour. Beginning in early July, the festival is 14 weeks of exhibitions, performances, screenings, and other hip happenings. Over 40 artists from the UK and abroad will be presenting pieces at many locations across the city. You’ll find works not just in galleries and museums, but also in public spaces, restaurants, and pubs. The Biennial is broken down into different ‘Episodes’, each of which looks at a different aspect of Liverpool. ‘Chinatown’ celebrates the area’s long-established East Asian population, and ‘Ancient Greece’ uses the city’s neoclassical landscape as a creative launch pad. For ‘Monuments from the Future’, artists were invited to imagine what the city may look like in the decades to come. There is also an Episode featuring artworks produced for, and sometimes with the help of, children.

Sat 9 Jul – Sun 16 Oct, Various locations across Liverpool, Tel: 0151 709 7444, Opening times and ticket prices vary, www.biennial.com