Migration Matters Festival

Fri. 19 June 2026 — Sat. 27 June 2026

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.

Migration Matters returns from 19 to 27 June 2026.

Initial announcements for Migration Matters 2026 include Ghanaian-English afrobeats artist Fuse ODG, Live at the Apollo comedy star Desiree Burch, and a symbolic drama on Palestinian resistance in The Horse of Jenin.

Full lineup to be announced soon.

You might also like...

Tom J Newell

One of the most distinctive illustrators in town, with a back catalogue of creepy creatures and writhing skulls.

Sarah Villeneau

An artist working with clay to capture organic textures and movements in abstract sculptures and vessels.

Plantation

Fri. 20 February 2026 — Sun. 17 May 2026

Site Gallery

"A necessary reminder of just how much Britain depends on love and labour from immigrants, and a warning of the dangers of exploitation and extraction – everywhere." Read more in our review of Rehana Zaman's exhibition, by Wemmy Ogunyankin.

Open Up Artists’ Studios

Multiple dates

Sheffield's annual artists' open studios festival, taking place over two weekends and a bank holiday in May.

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