Rochdale's Common Walls International Mural Festival has been awarded the prestigious Pineapple Award for Activation Events at the Developer and Festival of Place Pineapple Awards. This international recognition highlights the festival's outstanding contribution to creative placemaking, selected from a highly competitive field of projects across the United Kingdom.
A Celebration of Culture and Community
Led by the Culture and Placemaking Team at Rochdale Development Agency in collaboration with local artists The Butterfly Effect, the festival successfully merged global street art with local heritage. It brought internationally renowned artists together with local stories, communities, and spaces, creating a unique cultural tapestry.
Judges praised the project's deep community engagement, its clear and lasting legacy, and its transformative impact on perceptions and experiences of place. The panel described Common Walls International Mural Festival as "a premier blueprint for how creative activation can strengthen a town's cultural identity."
Pride and Surprise
Rachel Laver, Managing Director of Rochdale Development Agency, expressed her pride: "Winning a Pineapple Award is an incredible achievement and a huge moment of pride for Rochdale. Common Walls showed what's possible when culture, community and place are brought together with ambition and care. The festival didn't just animate our town centre; it created lasting connections, celebrated local identity and left a legacy that will continue to inspire long after the murals were painted."
The win was received with surprise and pride by the project team, given the scale and quality of the competition. The festival was delivered in partnership with Hayley Garner (Aylo), Rochdale Development Agency, Rochdale Borough Council, and The Butterfly Effect CIC, demonstrating how creative activation can extend beyond a single moment to deliver long-term cultural and social impact.
Investing in Place
Pete Courtie, Head of Culture and Placemaking at the RDA, said: "We're investing in our places by working closely with artists and local communities by listening to residents and collaborating with them to shape spaces that reflect who they are and what they want for the future."
The Pineapples are the only UK awards dedicated exclusively to placemaking, with winners selected through live judging presentations by a multidisciplinary panel spanning development, design, culture, local government, and community sectors.
