Manchester International Festival + Guardian Live

Venue: HOME, The Whitworth Gallery, National Football Museum

Location: Manchester

Event: Manchester International Festival

Type: Live Talks

Platform: Vimeo + Guardian Live

Overview

In June-July 2023, we worked alongside Factory International and the Guardian Live to deliver three live streams across renowned Manchester galleries for Manchester International Festival 2023.

The sessions covered a number of topics including an exclusive interview with ex-Manchester United player, Juan Mata and a panel discussion around mental health and young people with activist and co-founder of Black Pride, Lady Phyll, and activist Patsy Stevenson.

Each session included live captions and BSL interpreters to ensure the content was accessible for all, and was streamed to MIF Vimeo channel as well as the Guardian Live platform.

Challenges

In the run up to the festival, we worked closely with the venue events + AV teams, Guardian Live and Factory International to ensure all logistical aspects would run smoothly on the day. There was often limited set up time, squeezing time between other performances and exhibitions that were part of the festival. Each venue had different requirements for internet and audio which we were able to adapt to following site visits and careful planning.

Outcomes

These ticketed sessions were a huge success both in-person and online, with the recordings also being made available post-event for non-ticket holders. The discussions were lively and compelling, making for great streaming. It was a pleasure to be a part of MIF in our home town.

Visair were so great to work with. Calm, reliable, professional, really helpful with all queries and delivered exactly what we asked for in our livestreams. Very much looking forward to working with them again.

Nina Franklin

Producer