United Reformed Church
Presented in partnership with Rochdale Folk Festival
Tickets £16 available from here

Celebrating their 10^th year of performing together, much loved Yorkshire folk duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow have been propelled into newfound fame for penning the theme tune for Sally Wainwright’s hit BBC1/HBO drama ‘Gentleman Jack’, earning them global admiration, appearances on TV, Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and concerts that sell out months in advance. Belinda and Heidi’s boundless songwriting has been described by The Guardian as ‘exceptional’ and The Independent as ‘defiant, robust, northern, poetical, political folk music for the times we live in.’

Tickets available at: rochdalefolkfestival.co.uk/whats-on/

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Mary Naylor
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

All ages, abilities, and disabilities welcome.

The workshop will contain some short, long and daft drawing exercises, helping you relax into a drawing practice and, fingers crossed, peel away any negative feelings towards drawing abilities, wherever they may be stationed. I will also be sharing some of the processes and tricks I use when creating portraits, which we can put into practice together.

An array of materials will be provided as drawing does not have to be limited to pencils.

Disclaimer: If you want to learn how to recreate a life like a portrait from a photograph, this is not the workshop.  I work in a more naive fashion, structure and rules send me running to the tops.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Ceramicist Angela Tait explores the place of ceramics from their lowly position as functional objects to the wide contemporary uses of clay in the world of Fine Art. Using examples from the beautiful to the outrageous, she will make an argument for a medium that has historically been undervalued and show some of her recent practice that investigates the possibilities of clay.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Cheryl Beswick
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Pour yourself a cuppa and get comfy for a couple of hours crafting. It’s a simple crochet/knitting task that will hopefully mean you can complete your rug easily in the 2 hours and have a lovely chat with like minded people in the process. We will be providing a bag of scrap fabric, kindly donated by Violet Flamingo. The fabric is offcuts from her fashion business based at Ebor and will have some crochet hooks and giant knitting needles available but if you have your own please bring them along.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Alison Cooper
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Join artist, curator and composer Alison Cooper as she talks about female figures from the visual arts and music world who have had their work overlooked, only to be valued later on in their lives and careers for their contributions to the world of culture. The talk will include a variety of artists from painters linked to the Pre-Raphaelite movement to female electronic musicians from the twentieth century.

Littleborough Library
With Caroline Pheasey
Tickets Free from our Eventbrite page

In this guided session, an extract from a story or poem is read out loud by the shared reader leader and then we discuss together what we might have thought or felt about what was read.  It is a great way to find out more about ourselves and the world through shared insights.

Workshop participants are invited to share their thoughts or are welcome to join the group as a listener.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Maryanne Royale
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

In this workshop you will find new avenues of subject and vocabulary for your writing using a method of chance and a book of your choice.
Maryanne enjoys engaging with language and literature in an informal and playful way which brings about unexpected results. During the workshop you will learn these methods and work through a series of exercises designed to expand on a new concept or key word chosen in the session.
You will need: a book of your choice, notebook or paper, and a pen.

Smithy Bridge Methodist Church
Tickets £8 from our Eventbrite page

Brass quartet, Rosamund Brass, was formed in September 2020 by friends who are current students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Originally meeting when competing in youth bands, including the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Now, the ensemble are active members with some of the country’s leading Brass Bands including Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band, and Hepworth Band. With these bands, they have competed at some of the highest-level brass band contests such as the British Open Brass Band championships and the National Brass band Championships at the Royal Albert Hall.

As an ensemble, Rosamund Brass hopes to explore the repertoire available to brass quartets and to share their passion for brass chamber music to as many people as possible.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Bob France
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

A one-day course for those with an interest in photography that want to improve their skills, learn a few tricks and perhaps find a little inspiration. The day will consist of an initial talk/discussion at Ebor Studio, then a leisurely photo-walk to test out ideas and then return to Ebor to look at our images.
Bob is a photographic artist working with both analogue and digital processes. He often works with traditional darkroom techniques and even older processes to produce his images
You will need a digital or film SLR type camera or similar and have a rudimentary knowledge of its operation.

Hare Hill Park
FREE

Come along to the park and get creative with all the family! All activities are free and no booking is required.

A Bird in the Hand Theatre
The Bewonderment Machine

The Bewonderment Machine is an artist-built cycle-powered carousel, a kinetic public sculpture and a magical journey for small children. Visually, this is a quirky dreamscape, combining found objects, puppetry, machinery and music. With riding space for up to 10, this is also a miniature theatrical flight of the imagination, empowering the very young to care, to be curious and to believe in their own strength.

The Bewonderment Machine has been created with the support of WITHOUT WALLS.

Skylight Circus Workshops

Come and try your hands and feet! At a variety of different circus skills from juggling to plate spinning, hula hoop to diabolo. Fancy wobbling on a one wheeled bike? We’ve got unicycles galore. Come along and amaze yourself with Rochdale’s very own Skylight Circus Arts.

Thingumajig Theatre
A La Puppet Carte

A la Puppet Carte is a pair of puppet shows built on the back of tricycles. Created by Thingumajig Theatre and Rochdale artist Reyyan Iqbal, these two short shows reveal miniature, magical worlds full of adventure and fun as surprising characters emerge to share their stories. This show was created with the help of a Without Walls Blueprint R&D grant.

Oakenhoof Folk Arts with Caroline Pheasey
The Day I learnt to Ribbon Dance

A short story of friendship, family, fairies and fun. Learn to ribbon weave, have a go at a maypole dance as well as enjoying this brand new story.

Hare Hill House
FREE

A market of locally made arts and crafts will be running throughout the weekend, so come along and support our local makers.

Hare Hill Park
FREE

Presented in partnership with Friends of Hare Hill Park

Bring your picnic and your blanket and prepare to settle in for an afternoon of excellent music from the bandstand in the most beautiful of surroundings.

Cacophany Arkestra
Cacophany Arkestra was formed in 2014 from a group of talented musicians and carnival artists. We perform a high energy mix of Soca & Calypso tunes blended with other musical styles- Ska, Jazz & Afro-beat. The band plays carnivals, processions, clubs & anything in between either on a truck, on foot or on stage.

Additional bands to be annouced shortly

Hare Hill House
FREE

A market of locally made arts and crafts will be running throughout the weekend, so come along and support our local makers.

Gig House/Star Tree Studio, Hare Hill Park
FREE however booking is essential via our Eventbrite page

Have you ever wondered what really happens in Hare Hill Park when the sun goes down? Come and join local community artist Cat Jessop and dig deep into the depths of Littleborough’s most loved greenspace. Expect tales of magical mini beasts, imaginative explorations and a delve into the secret life of urban wildlife.

During this session we will be exploring textures inside and outside, please come dressed appropriately for the weather and be prepared to get a little messy.

Ages 5-11

This workshop will be running at various times throughout the day however places are limited for each time slot so booking is essential through our Eventrbite page

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Sophie Cooper
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Field recording in music production, beginners’ level.

It will be useful for people interested in capturing sounds from their everyday environment with the view to using them in pieces of music. No previous experience or ability to read music needed. We do require creative and open minds.

Sophie is a music workshop facilitator specialising in music technology, creative mentoring and music for early years.

Field Recording and Sound Manipulation using the Shure Motiv Audio App for phones. Download for free here – https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/software/shure_plus_motiv

Participants need a phone or some kind of recording device and headphones.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Natalie Sharp
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

A fun, playful and experimental process through Life Drawing for Fashion illustration. From observational studies to conscious mark making. Playing with form, silhouette and texture we will be using a series of different techniques: collaging, multimedia materials and self-styling.

Natalie is a multi-disciplinary artist based between Todmorden and London. She has a background in fashion, video, music and makeup. She teaches fashion and styling for Central Saint Martins summer schools and is currently an in-house artisan for Dolce & Gabanna. Previous clients include: Vogue, Google and Somerset House.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Liz will talk about her work using theatre, arts and creativity to champion marginalised voices. Through examples of projects, Liz will describe how amplifying voices can help us to transform society and build futures.

Liz is a Rochdale-based playwright, lyricist, poet and facilitator. She was a Bristol Old Vic Open Session writer in 2018, and previously took part in the 2014 Critical Mass writing programme at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Liz leads Theatre in Flow, a company committed to the championing of marginalised voices and their main project, Women’s Supper Club, a Forum Theatre group for women in locations across Greater Manchester.

Hare Hill House

£2 Tickets available for Eventbrite

An entertaining evening of monologues and Poetry from emerging Northwest writers and actors. This will be a script in hand performance and will contain some strong language.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Rahela Khan
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

Rahela Khan explores the ancient Indian art form of henna or mehndi, using mindfulness techniques.
Rahela takes a special interest in pattern and colour within her art practice. She seeks to make contemporary artwork which adheres to the tenets of the Islamic faith, which is aesthetically pleasing yet using non-figurative imagery.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

With tongue in cheek, I call myself a contemporary folk artist. Folk is a slippery and divisive term with some uncomfortable associations, but we only need look at the UK Brexit vote and rise of populism worldwide to see how customs and traditions continue to inform our sense of self and other, often with agonistic consequences. And yet traditions are not inherently malignant: they are also heartfelt vehicles of human sociability whose infinite adaptations and calls to action help us punctuate and make sense of time and place. My practice is driven by the conviction that now more than ever, we need to pay attention to the things people make, do and think for themselves— and it is this kind of folk, and this kind of art that informs my work.

Some of my projects interrogate the problematic relationships between folk, nationalism and colonialism. Others deal with the under-representation of women, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities in the existing canon of English folk arts and the need for new, more inclusive traditions for our divided society.

Gallery FRANK, Ebor Studio
With Babs Smith
Tickets £2 from our Eventbrite page

This workshop will begin with a brief introduction to VR and the use of Tilt Brush in my practice followed by a short demonstration of the use of the wands, pallet and environment to enable each participant to create their own 3d drawing in their chosen virtual scene. This will subsequently be photographed and emailed to them.

Availability for each session of this workshop is limited to 3 participants per session.

Hare Hill House
With Gordon MacLellan
FREE

What wild animals live in Hare Hill Park? Or what animals would you like to find there? There might be rabbits or unicorns, lions, tigers and party-mice. Who knows? Join Festival storyteller Gordon MacLellan from Creeping Toad and make your own instant animal puppet then help us tell new stories using all the puppets we have just made. No booking needed, just drop by and join in. The activity is free and materials are provided: we just need children, accompanying adults and some big smiles.

Hare Hill House
With Gordon MacLellan and Jennie Bailey
Tickets £8 from our Eventbrite page

Enchantment, wonder, seduction, treachery and deceit! Traditional tales take us on journeys through our own hopes, fears and delights. At Hare Hill House, storytellers Jennie Bailey and Gordon MacLellan will take us into a world full of stories with tales from the hills and moors of Lancashire to the cold edges of the world and the heart of tropical deserts.

Stories from the floor: we will have a limited number of places for contributions from the audience so if you have a tale, or a poem or other spoken word piece to share, let us know when you get to the door and we will fit in as many new voices as we can! Alternatively, let Gordon know in advance if you would like to share some words by emailing creepingtoad@btinternet.com