The Great Heywood Gathering, an outdoor arts festival featuring live music, sports, drumming, and a community sing-along, is set to take place on Saturday, August 22, in Heywood, Rochdale. The event is commissioned by Culture Co-op as part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme for Rochdale Borough and forms part of Intergenerational Music Making’s (IMM) national Access All Ages initiative.
New Civic Tradition for Heywood
Designed to become a new civic tradition for the town, the festival aims to bring residents of all ages together to build connection, belonging, and pride in place. The event focuses on themes of mental health, wellbeing, and healthy communities. The Great Heywood Gathering is being led by IMM, a group using creative practice to strengthen community connections, alongside its sister company Intergenerational England.
Morning activities will kick off at Heywood Civic Centre from 10am to 1pm, offering local residents a wide range of accessible creative options. People can take part in songwriting, dancing, drumming, and informal chat and conversation sessions, as well as dedicated activity for early years.
Afternoon Activities at Queen's Park
Action moves to Queen's Park in the afternoon from 1pm to 4pm for NFL-style sports sessions, football, and live performances. Extra pop-up music shows will also appear throughout the day at The Edwin Waugh Wetherspoons pub. Building towards a final collective moment at Queen's Park starting at 2.30pm, the festival finishes with a community sing-along accompanied by a live band. The crowd will perform a brand-new local anthem titled 'Hey Wood', set to the famous tune of 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles.
Emily Abbott, programme director at IMM and Co-founder of Intergenerational England, commented: "Music has this incredible ability to bring people together, no matter their age or background. Since we launched Access All Ages at Bridgewater Hall, we've seen time and time again how communities keep coming back to music and creativity as a way of staying connected."
Community Engagement and Impact
Abbott added: "At a time when many people are feeling increasingly disconnected from one another, moments like this matter. We hope The Great Heywood Gathering becomes a day where generations come together, make memories and celebrate the place they call home. We're so proud to have been chosen to lead The Great Heywood Gathering and to help start what we hope will become a much-loved new tradition for the town, a day where residents can come together, take part and feel part of something joyful."
Greg Bond, Artistic Director for Culture Co-op, added: "The Great Heywood Gathering music event should be a fitting finale to an ambitious two week festival programme, co-designed with our 15 person community panel, after engagement with over 350 Heywoodites about what our new festival should include."
Date: Saturday, August 22. Location: Heywood Civic Centre, Queen's Park, and The Edwin Waugh pub. For more information, visit the website at culturecoop.org/heywood-festival.
