Events

Where Middleton gets brilliantly unexpected.

Midd Fringe 2026 is the very first fringe festival to arrive in Middleton — a bold new celebration of creativity, community and fresh ideas. Bringing together artists, performers, makers and audiences, Midd Fringe will transform the town with original performances, music, art, spoken word and unexpected experiences. Vibrant, inclusive and full of energy, it’s a chance to discover something new, support emerging talent and be part of the start of something exciting.

We’re going to be at the Feel Good Family Picnic in Middleton and it would be great if you can come & say hello.

The picnic is in Limefield Park on Wednesday 30th July, 12-4.

Here are all the details: https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/feel-good-family-picnic/middleton

Middleton Tenants Union folk will be around to chat with, our Art House team will have creative activities to join in, you can learn more about our community energy work and…

…alongside all this fun stuff we’re also super excited about the announcement of Middleton Development Corporation (MDC) - we’ve got a great chance to shape what will come to Midd and we want to start the conversation with you at the picnic - come and tell us what you’d love to see change/move/shift in our town so that we can all get what we need and enjoy where we live.

Here’s more about the MDC from Rose, Steve and others: https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/news/article/489/middleton-regeneration-takes-major-step-forward

We’ve had a great day at Co-op Congress on 4th/5th July and talked about all the great stuff that some of you have been part of and made happen.

You can watch the session we were part of here. It was a panel of ‘New Pioneers’ sharing some good work that is happening all over Greater Manchester and nationally - our Kal is on from 14:55 & there’s also Grace Blakeley, exciting author who writes about economy, speaking before him + Steve Coogan chats to Grace about why he’s excited about our work too.

And if you want to know more, you can also enjoy the conversation of our Mark and Steve with the team at Co-op News, where they both talk more in depth about how things can be shifted so that we all benefit: https://www.thenews.coop/steve-coogan-on-why-he-is-backing-the-middleton-co-operating-project/