Music industry people from all over the world converge on the city to attend seminars, see bands and "schmooze" into the early hours.

Bands take the opportunity to present their music to a wide audience, including a number of A&R people.

In The City was started in Manchester in 1992 by Yvette Livesey and Anthony Wilson. It soon became clear that our city was the ideal location for an event like this - it's famous all over the world for music, but its centre has a village feel, unlike London.

In 1996, In The City was held in Dublin, another city with a great music scene. In 1997, Glasgow was the venue for the event, but this year, In The City returns to its Manchester roots.

The Unsigned Bands programme is perhaps the most exciting aspect of the festival. This year, 54 have been selected from hundreds who sent in demo tapes, and there are new categories. They'll be playing at various venues in the Northern Quarter, and entrance is free. Six years ago an unsigned band from Manchester called Oasis played at the festival. Who knows maybe this year another world legend will be born, perhaps one of the bands featured on this website.

The official In The City website is at www.inthecity.co.uk, and if you're in Manchester, you can listen to the In The City radio station, at 87.7 FM.

Aidan O'Rourke