The annual Khushi Festival of Joy returns to Oldham on Saturday, August 1, at the Cultural Quarter outside Oldham Library. This one-day celebration of happiness focuses on family, South Asian culture, and community spirit, offering theatre, dance, music, DJ sets, crafts, puppets, workshops, market stalls, free face-painting, reality arcade games, and bubbles. The day includes both free and ticketed activities.
Shazia Mirza Headlines Comedy Programme
Award-winning comedian Shazia Mirza brings her acclaimed stand-up to the festival. Mirza, named by The Telegraph in 2023 as one of the 50 defining comedians of the century, performs a show reflecting on how the world has changed since she taught in an East End comprehensive. Her set covers family, love, relationships, the internet, and celebrity, with her signature humour encouraging audiences to "have some shame, just a bit!" Her TV credits include EastEnders, QI, Would I Lie to You, The Jonathan Ross Show, and Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins. The Khushi Comedy show runs from 5:15pm to 6:15pm on August 1, for ages 16+, with tickets at £15 (£12 concessions) in Studio 1, Theatre Workshop, JR Clynes Building.
Further Performances and Exhibitions
Other highlights include a mesmerising Whirling Dervish performance, Move Manchester’s energetic family show Lilo Lost It!, and the premiere of Love or Sacrifice, a newly commissioned musical work performed live by Satnam Galsian. The comedy-drama My Mum Told Me Not To Marry A [ ] by Ajeeb Studios and Amina Aaliya Beg also features.
Alongside the festival, the exhibition All the people we are yet to meet by Mary Naylor runs at Ebor Studios. On Friday, July 31, from 10am to 12pm, a children's drop-in portrait painting workshop invites young artists to explore paint expression and character. On Saturday, August 1, a portrait painting workshop for all ages runs from 10am to 12pm, followed by the exhibition opening from 1pm to 3pm. The exhibition features painted portraits inspired by people Naylor encountered during her travels across South, Central, and North America. All workshops and the exhibition are free or pay what you want at Ebor Studio, William Street, Littleborough, Rochdale.
Ai Weiwei: Button Up! Exhibition at Aviva Studios
At Aviva Studios in Manchester, the Ai Weiwei: Button Up! exhibition runs until September 6, 2026 (closed Mondays). The exhibition takes its title from an incident during Weiwei's 81-day detention by Chinese authorities in 2011, when his trouser button came off and took days to repair. Nineteen artworks explore themes of colonialism, industrial revolution, trade, history, materials, and slavery, spanning 200 years of Manchester's history. Highlights include Eight-Nation Alliance Flags (2024), created from over 9,000 kinds of buttons weighing almost 30 tonnes, sourced from A. Brown & Co Buttons in Croydon. The flags reference the textile factories that made Manchester rich and were made by 33 artisans in Shandong over 281 days. Another work, Nian Nian (Commemoration) (2021), is an audio installation reciting the names of 5,197 children who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, lasting 39 days with 300 volunteers. Tickets from £15 at The Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester.
The Fabric of Rochdale Sound Piece
At Rochdale Town Hall, The Fabric of Rochdale is a celebratory binaural sound piece co-created with diverse communities from four townships. It explores the cooperative spirit and the hopes, dreams, and lives of local residents. The Exchange, originally built as a marketplace for cotton and wool traders, now welcomes visitors Monday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. The architecture and decoration reflect Rochdale's pride in trade and commerce.
Other Local Events
On July 15, Toad Lane Concerts feature Tim Kennedy (tenor) and Carol Kwater (piano) at St Mary in the Baum, Rochdale. Doors open 12pm, concert 12:30-1:30pm, cost £6. The series has run since 2001 and received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020. On July 16, Lego Club at Spotland Library runs from 3:30pm to 5pm, free, no booking required, for families with children aged five and above.
