The 'Carte Blanche' element of this year's Nuits Sonores Festival which takes place in Lyon, France, centres on Factory Records and the music of Manchester and starts on 31 March. In common with previous festivals a whole section of the Festival is handed over to a particular theme and this year it's Factory.

The line-up includes an exhibition of the work of Central Station Design, a mini-conference with Tony Wilson (Factory / F4 Records), Matt Carroll (Central Station Design) and John Cooper (Cerysmatic Factory), a photographic exhibition 'Manchester, le son en images' by Richard Bellia, 'Made in Manchester' - a series of screenings of notable Manchester / Factory Records documentary films and a showing of Michael Winterbottom's movie '24 Hour Party People'. Plus, during the main festival which runs from 4-8 May, A Certain Ratio appear at a special concert and Mike Pickering and Dave Haslam play DJ sets. Full details are available at www.nuits-sonores.com but here are the highlights:

Central Station Design exhibition

Les Subsistances, 8 bis quai Saint-Vincent - Lyon 1er
Friday 1 April to Wednesday 4 May
www.centralstationdesign.com

Meeting Tony Wilson

Saturday 2 April at 16:00
Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, 30 boulevard Vivier-Merle - Lyon 3ème
with Matt Carroll (Central Station Design) and John Cooper (Cerysmatic Factory)

Manchester: le son en images / Photos de Richard Bellia

Photographic exhibition by Richard Bellia

Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, 30 boulevard Vivier-Merle – Lyon 3ème
Friday 1 April to Wednesday 4 May
10:00 - 18:00

Piscine du Rhône
Friday 6 May - Saturday 7 May
18:30 - 23:30

Made in Manchester

Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 May 2005 from 13:00 to 20:00
Galerie des Terreaux, Place des Terreaux - Lyon 1er

Screenings of classic documentary films about Manchester music and Factory Records:

New Order Play at Home
Madchester: The Sound of the North
Fac 211: Wired Joy Division

24 Hour Party People (dir. Michael Winterbottom)

Saturday 7 May 2005 at 20:00
CNP Terreaux, 40 rue Président Edouard Herriot, Lyon 1er
Tel: 04 78 27 26 25

Special Concert with A Certain Ratio and James Chance and the Contortions

Les Subsistances
Saturday 7 May
21:30 - 00:00

[21:30 - 22:30 A Certain Ratio
23:00 - 00:00 James Chance and the Contortions]

Mike Pickering and Dave Haslam DJ sets

Piscine du Rhône

Friday 6 May
19:00 - 20:00: Chris Clark (Warp / UK) Live
20:00 - 21:00: RITON (Grand Central Records / UK) DJ set
21:00 - 23:00: Mike Pickering DJ set

Saturday 7 May
19:00 - 20:00: RITON (Grand Central Records / UK) Live
20:00 - 21:00: Battery Operated (COCOSOL1DC1T1 / UK-FR) DJ set 3 decks
21:00 - 23:00: Dave Haslam - DJ set

Full details of the series of Factory and Manchester-related events (collectively known as the "Parcours Associe") on nuits-sonores.com

- -

Thanks to all at Nuits Sonores.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Central_Station_Design, Dave_Haslam, Factory_Records, Joy_Division, New_Order, Tony_Wilson

- - - -