Rochdale Feel Good Festival to take a year off in 2023

This August the main stage moved to Hopwood Hall College due to ongoing work in and around Rochdale Town Hall Square

Rochdale Council has announced that Rochdale Feel Good Festival will not be held next year, with the next festival being planned for 2024. Organisers have confirmed that due to ongoing construction work in the town centre, the popular music festival will have a ‘year off’ in 2023.

Rochdale Feel Good Festival was held this summer but its main stage was located at Hopwood Hall College due to ongoing work in and around Rochdale Town Hall Square.  Now major construction due to begin next spring at Hopwood Hall College means neither the festivals usual site or its temporary site on the college car park will be available in 2023, which has led to the decision being taken.

Instead, in 2023 there will be a new free event for families: The Feel Good Family Picnic will be four days of fun activities, performances, sports and shows across the borough.  This event was due to be held in the summer of 2020 for the first time, but was cancelled that year due to the pandemic. Produced by the team behind Rochdale Feel Good Festival it promises ‘a magical day out.’

Mark Widdup, director of neighbourhoods at Rochdale Borough Council said: “Refurbishment works at Rochdale Town Hall, the closure of town hall square, The Esplanade and major new construction work over at the college campus means unfortunately we don’t have a suitable location for Rochdale Feel Good Festival next year. We know how much festival goers like the location around the town hall square and this will be a fabulous space that we look forward to returning to in 2024. So, for now, the big festival will take a break and we will focus on launching the long overdue Feel Good Family Picnic, a new free event for families.” 

Councillor Janet Emsley, cabinet member for events added: “We’ll have an exciting events programme for 2023 so there’s a lot to look forward to with established favourites as well as some new additions, and I can assure you that Rochdale Feel Good Festival will be returning to the new Rochdale Town Hall Square with a bang in 2024. People rightly love it, and it will be right at the heart of the celebrations, retaking its place as the most eagerly awaited date on the calendar.”

Rochdale Feel Good Festival was first held in summer 2008 and has grown to become the single biggest event on the borough’s calendar, attracting thousands of residents as well as visitors from across the north of England.

More information about the Rochdale Feel Good Family Picnic will be available in December.