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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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Crossed Wires Festival

Thu. 2 July 2026 — Sun. 5 July 2026

Bringing some of the UK's top names in podcasting from your headphones to the stage. The 2026 lineup includes: Jo Whiley & Zoe Ball, The Blindboy Podcast, Ash Sarkar & Moya Lothian McLean, Zack Polanski, and more. Plus free BBC Sounds fringe events.

Gage Gallery

Sitting above a factory, wonderfully illuminated by skylights, Gage is run by Kelham Island Art Collective (KIAC). It puts on shows by its members, who include painters, sculptors, stone carvers and textile artists, as well as other local artists.

Yorkshire Artspace: Exchange Place Studios

A beautiful 1920s art deco building, with five floors filled with artists and craftspeople of all persuasions. Also home to an exhibition space, the not-for-profit Carousel Print Studio and communal ceramic studio Clay Space.

John Hoyland

Introducing John Hoyland (1934-2011), the Sheffield-born abstract painter who took on the international art world.