The event operation consists of a core team of around 100 people , but in the build up to , and during , the event around 1,500 freelancers are involved .
MIF head of music Jane Beese , who joined the organisation in April last year from London ’ s Roundhouse ( cap . 1,700 ), says that in 2019 MIF engaged the services of 766 local suppliers . She says that while MIF was fortunate not to have a scheduled event in 2020 , the pandemic has had a considerable impact on the organisation : “ We were fortunate we weren ’ t in a festival year but we were about to present Riz Ahmed ’ s The Long Goodbye for three nights so those performances were postponed and then all of our international touring got put on hold .”
Beese is busy planning this year ’ s event , which is due to run from 1-18 July . She says , “ We are planning with the full support of the city council . Of course , the Government road map does give us some optimism , but we ’ ve been planning since I arrived for all sorts of scenarios .
“ The scenario at the moment is that there will be city-wide visual art presentations and interactions , and we are also planning a number of socially distanced events – so live performances for live audiences . In July , if we can do things with fewer restrictions , then that ’ s also catered for in our planning .”
Funded by UK Treasury and Manchester City Council , a £ 186m new arts centre called The Factory is being constructed to provide a permanent home to the MIF team and its activity . The building is due to be completed in December next year . While the work has been ongoing , the MIF team has created the Virtual Factory to provide online access to artistic projects .
Beese says that the festival will include online content provided throughout the event : “ We ’ re not just going to put things into the digital space because we can , it ’ s got to make sense artistically and creatively .”
During the lockdown , Lord and Burnham collaborated on online events initiative United We Stream , which debuted in the first week of April last year , showcasing live DJ sets , musicians , singers , comedians , poets and actors every night .
“ We entertained 20 million people over 10 weeks and raised £ 600,000 . It was Andy that made that happen ,” says Lord .
Burnham says it was Lord ’ s suggestion , and is understandably proud of the initiative ’ s results : “ A lot of money was raised and it was an important statement – it was an important flag in the ground to say we recognise the value of this sector to the city region and we are doggedly promoting it . People from 80 different countries tuned in , which says something about the power of the Manchester brand .”
Arena competition Manchester has long been home to the biggest arena in the UK , the 21,000-capacity the AO Arena , but believing its event industry has the potential to accommodate another even larger building , Manchester City Council has given planning permission to the Oak View Group ( OVG ) to build a 23,500-capacity new arena . OVG , the US company formed in 2015 by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and former chairman of Live Nation Entertainment and artiste manager Irving Azoff , is to begin building the Co-op Live arena this month .
The £ 350m venue , located next to Manchester City football club ’ s Etihad Stadium ( 63,000 ) in the Eastlands area of Manchester , will compete with the ASM Globaloperated AO Arena . It is due to open at the end of next year .
“ It has always been a creative city , a city with a buzz .”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham
OVG has signed a 15-year naming rights deal with Co-op that involves around £ 1m being distributed to charities by the Co-op Foundation . OVG chief operating officer Mark Donnelly says the arena will result in around £ 1.5bn of extra spending in the city during the first 20 years of the arena ’ s life , and estimates that 3,300 jobs will be created during construction and more than 1,000 longer-term jobs created once the venue has opened .
Asked why OVG has chosen Manchester to invest in , when it already has a huge arena , Donnelly says the company is convinced the city ’ s events business has room for growth : “ We were attracted to Manchester because more people go to concerts per head of population than in any other UK city .
“ Manchester has always had a reputation and music heritage that really sets it apart . Historically , it was always in the top three cities in the world for ticket sales for arena shows but over the last few years
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