Last week, Rochdale’s town centre became a vibrant open-air gallery for the CommonWalls International Mural Festival, part of Rochdale’s year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture 25-26. World-famous street artists, including Insane51, Onur, Smugone, Seca_One, aylo_nomad, Epod3000 and Leimai_lemaow, spent the week creating large-scale murals across the town, giving visitors a rare chance to watch the artworks come to life.
The festival’s grand finale on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September celebrated the finished works with BMX stunt shows from Fusion Extreme, hands-on workshops, live graffiti jams, pop-up galleries, artist talks and live music – bringing a lively, family-friendly atmosphere to the heart of Rochdale.
Some of the For Generations To Come team had the pleasure of exploring the murals over the weekend. If you didn’t get a chance to see them, we highly recommend visiting Rochdale to discover the artworks for yourself – all murals are within a 30-minute walk and a map is available to guide you through this unique urban gallery.
Events like CommonWalls show the incredible possibilities that can be achieved when people and organisations come together to celebrate creativity, culture and community.
