It is unlikely to be the most lighthearted walking tour on offer this summer. But one taking in the places that helped shape lives of Joy Division and their frontman Ian Curtis is expected to attract hundreds of fans of the influential band to Macclesfield, the singer's home town, this year.

A key stop will be 77 Barton Street where Curtis lived with his wife, Debbie, wrote many of his songs and, at 23, killed himself exactly 30 years ago tomorrow. The walk will continue to the town crematorium where a memorial –bearing the words of the song Love Will Tear Us Apart – has become a shrine for fans around the world.

On a more upbeat note, walkers will be encouraged to visit the pubs, clubs and rehearsal spaces – such as the Travellers' Rest and Krumbles nightclub – where Joy Division first played.

The guide, in the form of an annotated map, will be available throughout the town to help fans trace the steps that shaped the band's music – including the Armitt Street labour exchange, where Curtis worked helping disabled people claim benefits, and King school, where he was a prefect and drummer Steven Morris was expelled.

Fans from as far away as Japan are expected to travel to the former industrial town, said writer and punk historian Jon Savage. "Macclesfield is a slightly gloomy town … and if you want the Joy Division experience it is a good place to go. You get a sense of where Curtis was from, and what he was trying to escape from."

But the tour and accompanying exhibition, which opens on 27 July, need not be a grim experience, Savage said. "People think Joy Division is depressing music, but it is actually very uplifting. The response we've had from fans donating material to the exhibition has been very uplifting. The lyrics can be quite doomy but the music is very exciting and the band were very exciting live."

The Unknown Pleasures exhibition, held at 1813 Sunday School Heritage Centre building, will include original record sleeves, posters and handbills, as well as set lists, rare vinyl and letters from late Manchester music impresario Tony Wilson and Joy Division members to the band's manager, Rob Gretton.

Capturing the unhappiness and dissatisfaction that plagued Curtis during his short career, the exhibition includes a letter in which he declares Joy Division's acclaimed second album, Closer, "a disaster".

The band's enduring appeal is down not only to their music, but to the story behind it, said Savage. "Joy Division were one of the last great music industry stories. They were truly independent and complete self-starters. It is a story that lasted for a very brief period, that had a very sad ending but that produced some fantastic music."

A series of events around Macclesfield, including percussion workshops, design sessions and guided photography tours, will also be held in celebration of the band. Museum director Richard de Peyer said: "Macclesfield has never had the opportunity to celebrate Ian Curtis's work in a way which benefits the communities of the town and also attracts music fans from far and wide. This summer seemed like the right moment to do that."