The production was designed and created by Théâtre du Châtelet in co-operation with the Manchester International Festival and the Berlin State Opera, and performed at the Palace Theatre.

The first was Il Tempo del Postino, a visual arts show curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno and produced in conjunction with the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, performed at the Manchester Opera House.

[8] These werePrima Donna, Rufus Wainwright's debut opera, Everybody Loves a Winner, a "new theatrical experience" by director Neil Bartlett, and a "unique environment within Manchester Art Gallery" for solo piano, violin and cello JS Bach works called the JS Bach Chamber Music Hall, created by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The festival also featured It Felt Like A Kiss, a multimedia production created by documentary-maker Adam Curtis, Damon Albarn and Punchdrunk theatre company.

Other artists included De La Soul, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Antony and the Johnsons with the Manchester Camerata, Carlos Acosta and The Durutti Column, performing a tribute to the late Tony Wilson.

[10] The 2011 edition of the Festival ran from 30 June to 17 July 2011 and staged 27 original projects,[11] featuring artists and performers such as Björk, Damon Albarn, Snoop Dogg, Marina Abramović, Victoria Wood, WU LYF, D/R/U/G/S and Air Cav,[12][13] along with the Punchdrunk's Doctor Who production The Crash of the Elysium.

[15] Björk began the MIF11, with the live debut of her new album Biophilia,[16] with Dave Simpson of The Guardian stating that she "provided a stunning visual display", adding that "the Icelandic singer made a typically eye-popping entrance on huge platform shoes and sporting blue and white facepaint".

Robert Wilson directed Mikhail Baryshnikov and Willem Dafoe in a surrealist adaptation of Daniil Kharms' short story The Old Woman at the Palace Theatre.

Tree of Codes is a new contemporary ballet directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor with music composed by Jamie xx and visual concept by Olafur Eliasson.

[42] Major productions included Fatherland, created by Frantic Assembly's Scott Graham, musician Karl Hyde and playwright Simon Stephens; Jane Horrocks' Cotton Panic!, telling the story of the Cotton Famine; and New Order performing with a 12-piece synthesiser ensemble from the Royal Northern College of Music, a show entitled Σ(No,12k,Lg,17Mif) produced in collaboration with artist Liam Gillick.

Other productions announced in late 2018 include Tree, a musical work about South Africa, by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah, and DYSTOPIA987, Skepta's vision of the future.

A custom-built structure at the Science and Industry Museum will house Atmospheric Memory, a performance piece portraying speech in the air.

Other artists appearing at or creating works for the festival include Chim-Pom, Abida Parveen, Ivo van Hove, Philip Glass, Tania Bruguera and Laurie Anderson.

[44] On 2 July 2019, The Guardian published a story describing how Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley had been removed from their work on Tree under what they said were questionable circumstances.

[46] Allen-Martin and Henley described that their creative input had included research, scriptwriting as well as the play's title, and that they were threatened with legal action if they went public with the story.

[47] MIF issued a statement to counter their description of events, describing Tree as a new work based on an original script by Kwei-Armah that was entirely his creation.

The exhibition included recorded contributions from Simon Russell Beale, RoxXxan, Jane Horrocks, Brian Cox, Lioness, David Thewlis and many others.

It included Free Your Mind, an immersive Matrix films-themed dance, music and visual effects experience with a creative team including composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante MBE and choreographer Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy MBE (founders of Boy Blue), artist Es Devlin, playwright and poet Sabrina Mahfouz and director Danny Boyle.

[1] The programme announcement also included You Me and the Balloons, the world's biggest ever show by Yayoi Kusama,[2] and The Welcome, a series of special events and performances curated by the people of Greater Manchester.