Buy Art Fair and The Manchester Contemporary, the largest and most prestigious art fairs in the North, have announced a partnership with Old Granada Studios that will see the events staged at the Quay Street site.

The three year deal will see over £1m worth of art from over 80 national and international galleries adorn the walls of the former studios this September 26 – 28.

It’s a fitting move for the acclaimed events, with art having played an important role in the life of Granada Studio’s founder, Sidney Bernstein. A keen art collector with a passion for the work of Chagall and Modigliani, Bernstein decorated the walls of the building with his much-loved collection to inspire employees. On his passing in 1993 his collections were broken up with some being bequeathed to Manchester Art Gallery and The Whitworth Art Gallery and other pieces ending up with private collectors.

Some 60 years on, Buy Art Fair and The Manchester Contemporary are now looking forward to adorning the walls of Old Granada Studios with some of the country’s most celebrated art work and realising the potential of Manchester’s new cultural and creative space.

“We are delighted at finding such a fantastic new home for the art fairs for the next three years,” said Buy Art Fair & The Manchester Contemporary Managing Director, Thom Hetherington. “Old Granada Studios offers the perfect scale, flexibility and city centre location to develop our art fairs alongside each other. The Studios’ urban and creative offering presents the perfect fit with the events.

“Buy Art Fair offers high quality and accessible works, often from big name artists, whereas The Manchester Contemporary shows more challenging and conceptual work from emerging artists.”

Andrea George, Commercial Director, Allied London, said: “We look forward to welcoming the biggest art fair outside of London to Old Granada Studios. There is a fantastic synergy between Buy Art Fair and Old Granada Studios, we have inherited the studios’ culture and embraced its world-renowned attributes and with the recent inclusion of Buy Art Fair, this hugely iconic destination is set to be kept on the map for years to come."

This year over 8,000 visitors are expected to attend the events, with art sales predicted to hit £500,000 over a packed weekend.

Over 50 galleries from all over the UK and abroad have already signed up to exhibit at Buy Art Fair including Olivia Connelly, Atelier Rose & Gray, Art Republic and Cloud Gallery and the final round of gallery applications has created a waiting list of galleries keen to show their artists before a growing and increasingly discerning audience of Northern art buyers, from keen first timers to seasoned collectors.

The Manchester Contemporary is an invitational art fair that gives a platform to emerging galleries and their artists, using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Buy Art Fair & The Manchester Contemporary are delighted to be supporting Cancer Research UK as its chosen charity for 2014. Money raised through fundraising activities at Buy Art Fair and The Manchester Contemporary will help fund the construction of the new Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC). The MCRC, which is being built in Withington is set to revolutionise cancer treatment in the North West.