Imagine, create, discover: Your guide to Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas

Date published: 01 March 2024

Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas is staged from Monday 4 to Saturday 9 March to accompany the official re-opening of Rochdale Town Hall. Around the themes of imagine, create and discover; visitors to the free festival will be able to experience more than 20 free events, including visual arts, music, live performances, thought-provoking talks, interactive installations and more, as originality and imagination are celebrated.

Here's a look at some of the fantastic events happening. Events are free and no booking is required for most performances, although in some cases tickets are required so please check the festival website.

Book tickets and find out more at www.rochdale.gov.uk/festivalofideas

The festival opens in eye-catching style on Monday evening with a bold and colourful light show at Rochdale Town Hall to mark its re-opening from 6.30pm. The light show will be set to a new soundtrack created especially for the event by Daniel Mawson, with a brand new spoken word piece by Jenny Berry. On Monday night only, visitors will be able to explore the building and be among the first members of the public through the doors of the reborn Victorian Gothic Grade I-listed masterpiece. If you can’t make it on Monday the light show is repeated on Tuesday from 6.30pm – 7.15pm.

In a mass act of celebration of young people’s ideas, the festival has been working with 1,850 school children to generate 10,000 brilliant ideas. Embracing creative thinking the ideas will be displayed as part of one giant sculpture on display at Rochdale Town Hall all week.

The festival will also see a world premiere of a stunning outdoor installation - ‘The Living Dress,’ a large-scale naturally-dyed, handmade dress worn by a beautiful huge five-metre high sculpture on The Esplanade in front of the town hall from 4 to 9 March.

Fluid Motion Theatre present their performance installation at Heywood Sports Village on 6 March, Kirkholt Medical Practice, Rochdale on 7 March, Middleton Market on 8 March and the Pavillion Café at Hollingworth Lake on 9 March. ‘Take Ten’ invites you to relax and take a moment on colourful swing chairs, guided by a soundtrack that encourages you to sit comfortably, swing gently and breathe deeply. The ground-breaking artistic performance is around the idea of mental wellbeing, underpinned by the ‘Five steps to mental wellbeing.’

Power Up - a fast-paced and engaging event where you can try your hand at an exciting range of ESports games will be hosted at Middleton Arena from 4.30pm on Thursday 7 March in partnership with Hopwood Hall College. You’ll be able to learn what it takes to create a brilliant game, discover how new technology is being used, and play a range of games.

On Saturday 9 March Number One Riverside in Rochdale hosts ‘Theatre Electric; an immersive virtual reality experience taking players (groups of up to six) on a journey through a dystopian future where humanity has destroyed the world through apathy and ignorance. Using cutting-edge technology it promises a unique and thrilling adventure.

Move Manchester present ‘Zugzwang’ at Rochdale Town Hall (9 March) – a dynamic dance performance set on a giant chess board. Following the highs, lows, wins and losses of a chess game between two compelling characters it has been commissioned and supported by M6 Theatre. There will be 3 performances – 12pm, 2pm and 3.30pm and no booking is required.

The festival will be showcasing ideas homegrown in the borough commissioned in partnership with The Culture Co-op, Rochdale borough’s Creative People and Places Programme, funded by Arts Council England.

Ideas commissioned for the festival include ‘The Maker Games’ at Castlemere Banqueting Hall from 7pm on Wednesday 6 March - a battle of creativity and ingenuity as teams battle it out in front of a live audience. A mix of Scrapheap Challenge and Taskmaster, intergenerational teams of families, friends and strangers will throw themselves into an evening of games celebrating innovation and ideas! You can enter and compete as one of the teams or you can sit back, relax and enjoy watching the contest.

Local artist Peter King will be displaying his new art installation inspired by a recent visit to one of his favourite local beauty spots. Peter visited a lesser-known stretch of the River Roch that teems with wildlife for sanctuary and inspiration. The installation will be inside Number One Riverside all week until Saturday 9 March and features a giant, shimmering Kingfisher, similar to ones that can sometimes be spotted on the banks of the river. The model has a special coating developed by NASA scientists that shifts to different colours depending on the viewing angle.

The Nigeria Community Association will be hosting African Fashion Week – two sewing and fashion workshops for women (Kashmiri Youth Project on 5 March) and at Castlemere Banqueting Hall on 6 March that will culminate in a special party and fashion show at the town hall on International Women's Day – Friday 8 March. The celebration will showcase a range of cultures from Africa - and beyond, through fashion, and the association are inviting other community groups based across the borough to come in their finery, participate and walk the runway too. Free tickets are available for the show on the festival website.

Rochdale’s rich music heritage will be celebrated with ‘Rock Dale Wall of Sound’ bringing to life the important role it played in string of small and innovative music studios from the late sixties onwards with an installation inside Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre from 4 to 9 March featuring giant headphones, inviting you to move through and listen to Rochdale’s rich music history alongside an inspiring mural bringing to life the story of the music, the studios and the iconic bands.

Emma Reynolds, author-illustrator of ‘Drawn to Change the World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists’ hosts a day of comic-making workshop on Saturday 9 March at Number One Riverside in Rochdale to show how the power of imagination and art can transform our collective future.

There will also be a series of salon talks, with an opportunity to discuss ideas and innovation in unusual spaces across the borough as well as sessions with local organisations focused on finding how we can all make the future as green as possible. ‘Future Green Spaces’ is at Woodlands Café in Littleborough at 3pm on Tuesday 5 March and then on Saturday 9 March it’s ‘A Young People’ Utopia’ at Rochdale Town Hall at 2.30pm and ‘Speakers Corner’ at the Pionero Lounge in Rochdale featuring conversation, ideas and new music.

Councillor Janet Emsley, the council’s cabinet member for equity, safety and reform, said: “It’s a week of creativity, innovation and performance with something for all ages as we celebrate the re-opening of our wonderful town hall. This fantastic and varied line-up for our provides an exciting programme of really innovative and free events to entertain, inspire and make you think.”

Some events will be BSL interpreted and audio described. For full accessibility information visit the festival website.

Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas will be staged by the council, produced by Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces Ltd and supported by The Culture Co-op. It has received government funding through the Shared Prosperity Fund, Arts Council England, DCMS Cultural Development Fund. The re-launched Rochdale Town Hall will be one of a host of venues across the borough. Its major restoration has been funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Rochdale Borough Council.

Find out more and get involved at www.rochdale.gov.uk/festivalofideas and search #RochdaleIdeas on social media.