Horizons Festival 2026 Programme is now Live

Over two days at HOME, the festival features live music, special commissions, visual art, storytelling, family-friendly arts and crafts, dance, stand-up comedy, and thought-provoking discussion.

Taking place as part of Refugee Week, the festival connects the creativity of Greater Manchester artists and communities with global stories.

Come along and be part of our city’s long-held tradition of celebrating and welcoming international cultures and creativity!

All events are free, but most events require a ticket to book a place.Discover the full programme and book tickets here.

Friday 12 June, 2pm – 4pm, FREE, tickets required

Discover the Philippines: A Jeepney Sign Painting Workshop

Step into the colourful world of Philippine street culture and master the unique art of Jeepney typography.  Known for its electric colours and “loud-and-proud” lettering, the Jeepney is more than just transport; it’s a canvas for Filipino identity and local pride.

You’ll learn basic sign-painting techniques and the rich characteristics of Jeepney typography to create your personalised signs, which could incorporate words special to you, from placenames to personal affirmations.

You’ll leave the workshop with a deeper insight into Filipino culture, a new lettering technique for your own practice, and a custom-made sign to display on your wall or door – no experience needed.

Produced by VOICE ESEA, this workshop launches the British Home, Through A Filipino Lens exhibition, SALO SALO: Come Together in HOME’s ground-floor café bar Inspire Gallery at 6.30pm.

The exhibition runs from Monday 8 June – Sunday 6 September 2026.

Friday 12 June 5pm – 6.30pm, FREE, tickets required

Heard Live 

The Child She Finally Raised, a work-in-progress sharing as part of Horizons, opens Heard Live. How love continues even when history keeps separating families.

The Child She Finally Raised is a new performance by Ka-Yan Ip, a Hong Kong-born theatre maker now based in Manchester.  Drawing from her family history, the work explores migration, separation, and the bond between a grandmother and granddaughter across generations of political change.  Blending storytelling, movement, and Cantonese song, this intimate work reflects on memory, displacement, and what we inherit from those before us.

Heard Live is a true spoken-storytelling event that amplifies unheard voices to create real, positive change. Using the theme of ‘Between Worlds’, Heard Live celebrates Vietnamese heritage with an evening of raw, real accounts of identity, belonging, and the space between where you come from and who you’re becoming.

Enjoy a specially curated line-up of everyday people who share their unfiltered experiences.  No scripts. No polish. Just truth.

Come to connect, reflect, and leave with a piece of someone else’s world.

Friday 12 June 7.30pm – 9.30pm, FREE, tickets required

Horizons Comedy Club: Stand Up for the World!

Get ready for a night of razor-sharp wit and gloriously unpredictable comedy with four of the most distinctively funny comedians on the UK circuit.Headlining is Shazia Mirza, the award-winning British Pakistani comedian with a “fearless” (London Evening Standard) reputation, who delivers brutally honest satire and observation.

Joining her is the unforgettable President Obonjo – the self-proclaimed dictator-turned-comedian – as the evening’s MC. He takes no (political) prisoners and comedy chaos is guaranteed.

Tadiwa Mahlunge, the Zimbabwe-born and Cardiff-raised comic, is one of the breakout names in UK stand-up, with a blend of laid-back storytelling and brilliantly offbeat takes on modern life.

Japanese-born, award-winning Yuriko Kotani completes the line-up with her deadpan delivery and awkward observational humour.

There’s zero chance of a quiet evening with the kind of punchlines and cultural insights that make you laugh first and think later.

Afrocats Family Storytime

An interactive workshop of African storytelling, drumming, dance, and singing for families.  Come along to connect, communicate and learn from each other in a fun and supportive environment.  It’s a space where creativity, cultural expression and togetherness thrive.

Saturday 13 June 11am – 11:45am, FREE, tickets required

Family Dance Session with Afrocats

This joyful family dance workshop gets adults and children moving together, connecting and enjoying music through dance.

Enjoy simple choreography, playful movement games and easy follow-me exercises, making it accessible for all ages and abilities.  Build confidence, rhythm and creativity while sharing a memorable dance experience.

WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together) Choir on HOME’s ground-floor cafe bar stage 12.15pm – 12.45pm and at 1.45pm – 2.15pm. FREE, unticketed.

Join us for an uplifting performance by WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together) Choir in HOME’s ground-floor café bar.

Saturday 13 June, 1pm – 1.45pm, FREE, tickets required

Way Back When: Horizons Family Theatre by Blue Elephant Theatre

It’s been a very long time since Grandma came to the UK – the Motherland – from Jamaica, but some memories never fade.

From cricket to carnival, she recalls her Caribbean childhood and the journey to England with all her belongings in her “grip” bag.  Today, she’s sharing her stories.

Way Back When is a show for families about family history and sharing memories.  Expect vibrant storytelling, traditional games, and plenty of audience interaction in a journey through time.Suitable for ages 4 – 10, but loved by all ages.

Written by Jacqui Livingston and performed by Janelle Thompson and Nicole Acquah.

Saturday 13 June, 2pm – 2.30pm, FREE, tickets required

CAN Young Artists showcase featuring a collaboration with beat boxer SK Shlomo

Expect a bold performance of original work that shows that when young voices are given a platform, they don’t just speak – they soar!

CAN Young Artists brings together young people from Greater Manchester’s migrant and host communities?  Witness the power of a new generation of talent as CAN Young Artists take to the stage in a vibrant celebration of identity, resilience and creative energy.

The legendary and record-breaking beat boxer SK Shlomo joins them on stage for an inspirational finale.

Saturday 13 June 3pm – 4pm, FREE, tickets required

Shlomo’s Beatbox Adventure for Kids

Join world record-breaking beatboxer SK Shlomo (they/them), who makes amazing music with just a mouth and a mic!

Their 5-star sell-out show is a space where anybody can become one of this sonic superhero’s sidekicks in a world of funny sounds, brilliant noises, and cool music, whether they’re aged 1 or 101.SK Shlomo has performed and collaborated with legends around the world, including Björk, Ed Sheeran, Rudimental, and Gorillaz, and has played main stages at festivals such as Glastonbury.

★★★★ “A perfect show… sets young imaginations alight” – Times

“The kid’s good.  Jaw-droppingly good” – The Guardian

“Slick theatrics and soulful vocal gymnastics” – Evening Standard

“Scarily talented” – Metro

Also on Saturday, why not enjoy these free drop-ins? No tickets required:

Hanging out in our Family Chill Zone, 11 am – 3pm

Dropping in to Pot a Plant with Growing Together Levenshulme between 11am – 3pm

Saturday 13 June 5pm – 6pm, FREE, unticketed

Waran Music Group

Following their sold-out performance at 2024’s Horizons Festival, Waran Music Group will perform in a special unplugged live set on HOME’s cafe bar stage. Waran’s music is a rich and diverse mix of styles: Kurdish, Persian, Lorestan, Irish and Arab. The sounds combine to create a powerful message of cross-cultural connection and a call for the end of conflicts.

Saturday 13 June 6.45pm – 8.15pm, FREE, tickets required

Refugee Action: Locked Out and Locked Up Panel Discussion and Q&A

With Jonathan Kazembe (Refugee Action), Fatima Mahmood (Race Equality Network), Ben Whittam and Haleemah Alaydi, the co-authors of ‘Locked Out and Locked Up’.

Experiences of asylum policy and systemic racism in the UK and FranceRefugee Action presents their new report ‘Locked Out and Locked Up’, which highlights people’s experiences of asylum policy and the urgent need to address systemic racism in the asylum system both in the UK and France.

The RAS VOICE Band is a lived-experience band supported by Refugee Action.  Featuring Sakuba Diala (of London’s Kongo Dia Ntotila band), Nicole, and Princess Dia, and supported by Jonathan Kazembe, the group uses music and voice to shine a light on the challenges faced by Queer and Trans migrants in the UK.

Enjoy a performance of powerful music rooted in struggle, survival and identity. Horizons Festival is curated by HOME and CAN in collaboration with the Arts and Migration Group and is proudly supported by The Evan Cornish Foundation. 

Exhibited throughout the festival and continuing until Sunday 19 July

Chidimma Urunwa is a Manchester-based artist who has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work reflects migration as an act shaped by sacrifice, endurance, and responsibility.

At its centre, the woman moves forward with quiet determination, carrying the unseen weight of survival. The hive in her hands represents constant labour, mirroring the reality many migrants face: long hours, repetition, and the pressure to provide. The bees reinforce this rhythm of unending work, while the honey suggests that even under strain, something sustaining is created, though not always enjoyed by those who produce it.

The piece represents a place of temporary rest rather than permanence, echoing the instability that too often defines migrant life. It reflects the experience of constant movement. At the same time, the work carries a sense of resilience, the idea that even without stability, there is always a place to recover, to continue, and to endure.

This new artwork has been commissioned for the 2026 Horizons Festival Programme by HOME and Community Arts North West, as part of a series of artist commissions created to support Manchester-based artists with lived experience of displacement in making new work.