Discover Manchester’s newest up-and-coming neighbourhood St. John’s and explore its new venue the Factory, the new home of Manchester International Festival.
The Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel sits quietly on the banks of the River Irwell, opposite what used to be Granada television studios and the Coronation Street outdoor set. Since its move to Media City in Salford Quays some eight or nine years ago, the area – once a hub of excitement with stars of film and television – soon became quieter and a more forgotten part of Manchester city centre.
Fast forward to May 2019, when work began on the multi-billion-pound St. John’s, Manchester’s newest and most exciting neighbourhood was completely reimagined. St John’s will provide a series of tech-driven and creative buildings where modern industry can flourish by focusing on digital skills, exemplary talent, new technologies, and global communication.
Enterprise City is the commercial heartbeat of the new St. John’s neighbourhood and will be a place to work, rest, eat, shop, and play. It is reaching out to the world and positioning Manchester’s innovation, tech, and creative industries.
The area is already home to a range of organisations, from world leading technology to highly creative start-ups and media production studios.
At the heart of Enterprise City are some of the best international brands, however most exciting of all, and a building which will have the most importance as a public realm building will be the Factory theatre, the new home to Manchester International Festival. The Factory is a ground-breaking new arts and cultural venue at the centre of Enterprise City and will offer audiences the opportunity to experience one of the most ambitious and adventurous year-round creative programmes in Europe.
The Factory will attract over 850,000 visitors annually and will present new work by the world’s most exciting artists. A place to create, invent, and play, it will be where the art of the future is made and a nod to Tony Wilson’s record label. The 7,000 capacity theatre will occupy the old Coronation Street site.
The theatre will be ultra-flexible, enabling large scale artistic work of invention and ambition that isn’t made anywhere else. A centre of dance, theatre, music, opera, and visual arts, popular culture and innovative contemporary work, incorporating the latest digital technologies, will come together in ground- breaking combinations, premiered in Manchester before travelling the world.
Manchester International Festival will be working with the people of the city in countless creative ways, inviting individuals and communities to meet, exchange ideas, and take part in remarkable new projects. The Factory will also be training in the many skills required for a career in the arts, helping to build new generations of technicians, producers, and arts professionals.
Manchester International Festival’s next series of events will take place in summer 2023 and will have moved into the theatre for audiences to enjoy the wide-ranging performances and art installations bringing together artists from around the world with different art forms and backgrounds to create a rich tapestry of culture and entertainment.
The Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel will be in the heart of this exciting new neighbourhood, providing a hub for those who want to experience everything this vibrant new area has to offer.
Marriott.com/manva