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The Sheffield culture guide written by in-the-know locals

Migration Matters Festival

Migration Matters 2024, photo by Smart Banda

In 2007 Sheffield became the UK’s first City of Sanctuary – a place that welcomes asylum-seekers and refugees, that offers a hand to people in need of safety. Held around Refugee Week each June, Migration Matters Festival is a celebration of diversity and the positive impact migration and refugees have in Sheffield.

The festival launched in 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum and Syrian refugee crisis. Each year the Migration Matters programme brings communities together over fantastic, globe-spanning variety of theatre, music, dance, workshops, exhibitions, and more.

Come back soon for dates and details of Migration Matters 2026.

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Evening Talk: Gathering Landscapes with Heavy Water Collective

Thu. 26 March 2026

Weston Park Museum

Delve deeper into the Gathering Landscapes exhibition with its curators, artists Heavy Water Collective.

The Haunted Moustache

Thu. 21 May 2026

Drama Studio

The 84% true story of an epic quest to unlock the mystery of an occult heirloom. A screening of a performance of a mysterious, hilarious story by a master storyteller David Bramwell, with Q&A.

Bailey Lane Car Park

The Spanish artist Nano 4814 left behind this bright, wacky, and slightly unsettling piece when he came to town as part of the Feature Walls street art festival in 2016. It's the ninth stop on our city-centre street art trail.

Yorkshire Artspace: Persistence Works

Over a hundred artists have made their home at Yorkshire Artspace. Once a year, its two sites become galleries for Open Studios weekend, a fantastic opportunity to see inside the workspaces of some of Sheffield’s creative residents.