Six Reasons to go to ¡Viva! Festival in Manchester

Theatre

For the first time, theatre makes up a chunk of the ¡Viva! programme. The festival kicks off with Derailed (7-9 Apr), from award-winning company Little Soldier Productions, which takes the form of a live recording of a concept album to explore politics and rock'n'roll. We're looking forward to the festival's timely revival of Don Quijote (15&16 Apr) – it’s the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes’ death. The programme promises a playful take on Cervantes’ novel, combining visual imagery, live music and dance. The performance takes place in HOME's Theatre 1, but expect an intimate affair: the limited audience will be seated on the stage close to the action. The kicker is that there will be a different secret guest in the title role each night. Another highlight looks to be new work ALL IN (14-16 Apr) from exciting Catalan theatre company ATRESBANDES.

The heart of the theatre programme is a focus on the work of Abel González Melo, one of Cuba's leading contemporary playwrights. Melo heads to Manchester with a brace of his plays: Kiddo (21-23 Apr) and Weathered (23 Apr). Walter Meierjohann, HOME's head of theatre, will direct a scratch production of the former, with the performance on 21 Apr being followed by a panel discussion featuring Melo, Meierjohann and Elyse Dodgson, the Royal Court Theatre's international director.

Rest assured, all the plays are in English. Even better news: the most you’ll pay for a ticket is £12.

Great South American Cinema

Two of the finest films of the year so far, Pablo Larraín's The Club and Patricio Guzmán's The Pearl Button, hail from Chile, and anyone who's had their eye on world cinema will realise this isn't a blip. But it's not just Chilean cinema that's taking off – as ¡Viva!'s selection of films prove, its neighbours are no slouches either. We'd urge you to catch To Kill a Man (19&22 Apr), Alejandro Fernández Almendras's menacing thriller about an easy-going family man who's terrorised by a street thug. There's also the deeply cinematic From Afar (11&20 Apr), from first time director Lorenzo Vigas. It's a tense and gritty tale of repression and desire set on the mean streets of Caracas, Venezuela. There's also a chance to see festival hit The Clan (13 Apr), an Argentinian thriller that centres on a seemingly average suburban family who just happen to kidnap the country’s rich and elite, chain them up in their upstairs bathroom, ransom them off, then murder them. If that sounds a bit far-fetched, you’ll be pleased to know this is based on a true story.

To find out more about the 20 films screening in ¡Viva!'s programme, go to homemcr.org/event/viva-spanish-latin-american-festival-2016

Ricardo Darín retrospective

Talking of great South American film, ¡Viva! have a special tribute to the face of Argentinian cinema: Ricardo Darín. On 14 Apr, University of Manchester's Dr Ignacio Agulo leads an introduction to Darín's work and his role in the resurgence of Argentinian cinema over the last few decades. The quintet of screenings in the retrospective include new film Truman (23 Apr) as well as international hits The Secret in their Eyes (16&20 Apr) and XXY (14&17 Apr), and two brilliant films from Pablo Tapero (who also directed The Clan): Carancho (18&21 Apr) and White Elephant (19&24 Apr).

Brush up on your Spanish

The much loved Cafe Cervantes returns for film fans to get together to practice your language skills while opining on the ¡Viva! programme. The informal gatherings will be led by Francisco Oda, Kepa Gonzalez and Amaia Santana of the Instituto Cervantes.

Fiesta

Twelve months ago the curtain came down on Cornerhouse with a wild and wonderful Storming of the building. Panama-born artist Humberto Vélez was behind that community extravaganza and ¡Viva! will come to a close on 23 Apr with The Storming Reunion, an informal reunion with Vélez's team for a Latin beat-tinged party.

Eat

In a total building takeover, HOME’s menu will get in on the fun by adding a Latin American and Iberian flavour. Think montaditos and pinchos – and jugfuls of sangria!