Migration Matters Festival

Otis Mensah at Migration Matters 2019

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.

See our guide to 2024 Migration Matters programme highlights.

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City of Rivers

Fri. 24 November 2023 — Sun. 3 November 2024

Weston Park Museum

An exhibition of stories, objects, artwork, film and photography chronicling Sheffield's relationship with its waterways.

Stoneface Creative

A pretty ancient woodland turned magical gallery – now home to a sleeping giant, a rearing horse, and a changing and charming array of grindstone carvings and sculptures.

Tess Jaray: Paintings and Drawings Across 60 Years

Sat. 20 July 2024 — Sun. 13 October 2024

Millennium Gallery

An exhibition by one of the most influential British painters of the last century. With abstract painting exploring form and space, led by her interest in architecture, pattern, repetition and colour.

Westhill Lane

Book and record shop Rare and Racy is no longer with us but at least we can enjoy the Phlegm mural round back while it's still standing. The cosmic scene features planets hanging from claw machines and astronomers whose eyes bulge through telescopes.

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