Chorlton hosts Arts Festival for its 21st anniversary hosting the event since 2001

  • Chorlton will host its 21st annual event from 19 – 28 May

What is Chorlton Arts Festival?

Chorlton Arts Festival is a community arts festival, featuring artists of all kinds from South Manchester and run entirely by volunteers. Now in its 21st year, for a week in May the neighbourhood vibrates with music, singing, visual arts, creative writing, poetry and more in 45 venues including cafés, bars, shops, open spaces, churches and schools. this will be open to the public.

Carolyn Kagan in front of one of the venues that will be hosting jazz music during the Chorlton Arts Festival. Image: Joseph Hylton

The Chorlton Community Arts Festival is run by local people for local people, involving local artists. It is not a festival that brings in elite acts to attract visitors from afar. It is a festival in which everyone from organisers to artists to venue hosts are local and give their time voluntarily and are not paid.

Artists included visual artists; photographers; film makers; online graphic artists; musicians; singer songwriters; choirs; poets; dancers; literary artists; puppeteers; sculptors; environmental artists; crafters; performance artists. 

Events included exhibitions; performances; plays; choral sessions; films; classical music; jazz; hip hop; world music; poetry slams; puppet shows; book readings; cabaret; comedy; DJ sessions; participative drumming; workshops.

Benito Lounge will be hosting a Jazz night this will include Jazz works who is a 6 piece instrumental band consisting of 2 saxophones, trumpet, piano, bass and drums. The playlist ranges from cool blues, latin flavours to jazz standards. Mike Dowd & Jan Riley have a 45 minute set and The MadDonnas who will return to Chorlton Arts Festival with their voices, guitar, accordion, spoons and coconuts, and a mix of new songs and old favourites this event will take place on the 20th# May kicking off with Mike Down and Jan Rowley 7:30pm till 8:30pm and the Jazz works at 9:00pm till 10pm

What is happening at Barlow Hall Chorlton Park?

There will be 45 venues across Chorlton, 25 exhibiters at the Barlow Hall in Chorlton Park one of the exhibiters who is a artist and portrait photographer called Sop Rodchenvko originally from Mexico his photography is about writing poetry free, for free, democratic and without attachments, in a place that belongs to marketing. his images generate a narrative nearly by themselves; that narrative allowed him to adjust my thoughts and, little by little,

He told NQ  ‘Consciousness’ is a form of therapy. It is embedded in philosophy yet approached from the personal angle. ‘Identity’, quite obviously relates to the fundamental questions of the self, but I also admit that my interest stems from paternity ‘Memory’, is approached from the perspective of a family memory and my life-long recording of the mom‹entary passage of my life. “Togetherness’ stems from my interest in how we make a community happen. It narrows down to document collective celebrations and mobilisations, as well as protests, the latter as the means to raise a voice and express political standpoint.

The Chorlton Arts Festival will place on the 19th May and will end on the 28th May.