There is a festival where you hunt moose with your mobile phone and run away from zombies. Where you treasure hunt and throw paint over strangers. Where the city becomes a giant playground for the weekend and the consoles and computers are left behind. That festival is igfest: Bristol's international celebration of street games, social play and mucking about. It’s back, and they want to play with you.

igfest is based around Bristol’s stunning Harbourside and returns from 11-13 Sept . There are dozens of games from the best international artists and street games designers to choose from. Best of all, it's entirely free, thanks to support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The festival will kick off on Fri 11 Sept with La Noche de los Muertes (The Night of the Dead), a giant chase game across the city. Based on last year's huge hit Journey to the Middle of the Night, players are pursued by zombies between seven scenes set in secret locations around the city, ending with a Mariachi band and a macabre procession.

In the week leading up to the festival four Moose will make their way from their summer feeding grounds around Bristol into the city for the festival in the Moosehunt game. Local people can hunt these magnificent beasts and capture them on film and on Thursday night there is even a guided pre-festival hunt for city dwellers.

The programme continues over the weekend with games for all age groups. Some igfest games will test your stamina; others will challenge your wits. Some will have rich themes and narratives whilst others just ask you to chuck paint. Some games last hours and others take just a few minutes. Some are high tech and some use no tech. Every single one, however, is pure, unabashed fun.

Simon Johnson, Festival Director and studio resident, said:

With igfest, the city is your playground. You can run and hide, seek and find, kick a ball, throw some paint, outwit a zombie, dodge a laser, hunt a moose. Bring your family, bring your friends, and come out and play with us.

To get a flavour of the treats you’ll be in for, check out a 90 second film from last year’s festival at igfest.org/igfest08.