FAQs
-What kind of events?
Bands, Photographers, Club nights, Novelists, Disc Jockeys, Magicians, MC's, Singer-songwriters, Mentalists, Laptop Musicians, Plays, Poets, Films, Dancers, Film-makers, Galleries, Actors, Stand Up's, Sketch-Shows, Performance Artists, Graffiti Artists, Professionals, Collectives, Venues, Individuals, Bedroom DJ's, Painters, Sculptors, Mimes, Students, Street Theatre People, Envelope Pushers, Established Performers, People who have never performed before, and everything and anything else that i can't quite think of right now. Artistically there are no bounds.
-The Rules (Such as they are)
To be officially not part of the MIF you need to put an event on in mcr between the 29th June & 15th July.
We are celebrating all that happens here all the time that has nothing to do with the MIF. To demonstrate that in the most effective way we have to obey some of their rules.
So an official non-MIF event must;
1. Take place in Manchester
2. Occur between the 29th June & 15th July (remember we're letting the MIF have their opening night on the 28th June without any competition)
3. Have no connection to the MIF (you can't have your cake and eat it)
And they are the only rules. Everything else is up to you.
-Cost?
It costs nothing to be part of this. We dont charge to take the vow. We believe the struggle to be creative and achieve recognition is difficult enough without being charged for the privilege and that festivals that do this are in the wrong.
We hope to make our money from advertising and sponsorship, not from exploiting artists. The only thing we ask is that you put our website on your promotional material.
What Kind of Venue can I use?
It has to be in or near Manchester city centre – the hypothetical question we ask is.. ‘would a tourist be able to get there easily?’. If the answer is no, or makes you pull a face – then the answer is NO from us.
It can not be a venue which has an event on there which is part of the Manchester International Festival.
-Promotional Material?
You might not have any promotional material with which to bear our moniker. DON'T let that stop you. We can work something out. Maybe a poster up specially or mentioning us repeatedly throughout the event. We can come to an agreement.
If you do have promotional material then the least we ask is our website on your flyers & posters. If you'd like to go further and promote us on your website, myspace, tickets etc then we welcome it & you would rise even higher in our estimation.
We recommend you promote this as you would wish to be promoted by it. If everyone does that then it'll benefit us all.
-What do you get out of it?
Promotion of your art. By putting our web address on your publicity you're promoting everyone else who is doing the same. We all get to promote each other.
Being part of something. We all know how hard it is to strive towards something. Joining up will make you part of a larger whole with all the benefits that that brings. An opportunity to work with like minded people who are perhaps doing similar things to you but in a different medium. There will be part of our website dedicated to messages from artists who are involved. So if you're looking for someone to shoot a video for you or soundtrack your film then it could be a springboard to future collaborations.
We are actively seeking sponsors. Both for our website and for any events that sign up. We're getting a lot of interest from businesses. If we find sponsorship for your events you could do that thing for it you've always wanted to but could never afford. Or you could just pay yourself.
If the MIF is a success like i hope it will be & if this is the success that i'm going to make it be then it'll happen every two years. Making a success of this now will get us all in on the ground level. This could have an edinburgh fringe level of worldwide recognition. And we'd all be part of that.
-What do we get out of it?
We want this to work. We think it's a great idea. And right now with the MIF its a perfect time for it. The only way this can be a success is by US doing it.
If it works as well as we hope we want to make it a regular event. Running alongside the MIF till the end of days.
We don't know where doing this will take us. But instead of having a good idea like 'its like a cash machine that you use as a video shop' or 'we should build a takeaway next to 5th' and not doing anything about it, at least this time we will know we have.
-More questions?
If you have any questions, advice or criticism please let us know. We're learning more every day but we know we still have a lot to. And we're looking forward to it.
