Big ideas come to life at Rochdale's new festival

Imagination, creativity and discoveries were celebrated during a busy week of inspirational events accompanying the reopening of Rochdale Town Hall at the first Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas.

Over 20 free family-friendly events took place, including eyecatching visual arts, live music, theatre performances, games, thought-provoking talks, dance and interactive installations.

The festival opened with a dramatic and colourful light show at Rochdale Town Hall attended by over 1,000 visitors. The illuminating performances were set to a new soundtrack by Daniel Mawson and a spoken word piece by Jenny Berry combining Rochdale’s past achievements and famous names with aspirations for the future.

In a celebration of young people’s ideas, the festival worked with 1,850 school children to generate 10,000 brilliant ideas, which was displayed as part of a giant sculpture.

The festival saw a world premiere of a stunning outdoor installation - ‘The Living Dress,’ a large-scale naturally-dyed, handmade dress worn by a five-metre high sculpture.

Fluid Motion Theatre presented their ‘Take Ten’ performance installation around the idea of mental wellbeing; inviting guests to relax and take a moment on colourful swing chairs, guided by a soothing soundtrack.

Power Up – was a fast-paced and popular event where visitors tried out an exciting range of ESports games at Middleton Arena in partnership with Hopwood Hall College.

Number One Riverside hosted ‘Theatre Electric; an immersive virtual reality experience which took players on a journey into another world using cutting-edge technology.

Move Manchester presented ‘Zugzwang’ at Rochdale Town Hall – their dynamic dance performance set on a giant chess board, commissioned and supported by M6 Theatre.

The Nigeria Community Association hosted African Fashion Week at the town hall on International Women's Day, showcasing a range of styles from Africa and beyond. The event drew a big audience as models walked the runway in stunning garments to a live DJ set.

The event closing this year's festival was ‘Speakers' Corner’ at the new Pionero Lounge with guests including Mohammed Rahman from Rochdale Science Initiative, Asma Begum from Soul Sisters: Empowering People, Anne Cleary from Rochdale Empire and Steve Cooke from All Across the Arts along with live music from folk singer/songwriter Kirsty Almeida.

Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas was staged by the council, produced by Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces Ltd and supported by The Culture Co-op.