A MASSIVE THANK YOU...

to everybody who volunteered, stewarded, worked at, came to, helped set up, enjoyed, participated in, played music at, performed and generally took part in the 2010 Darnhill Summer Festival: Rainbow Nation. We had a brilliant time and hope that you did too!

The seventh Darnhill Summer Festival took place on Saturday 3rd July and what a vibrant community affair it was! Battuta, the samba band, brought the streets of Darnhill alive with their upbeat music – leading the 170 strong Rainbow Nation procession. This year’s festival flag (which will go on display in Darnhill Library), the St Margaret’s and Woodlands’ Brownies and Guides, participants from The YARD and Woodlands Primary School, plus Year 5 and 6 from St Margaret’s Primary School, Fun from the Sun solar bike and Darnhill Rounders team followed closely behind – making this year’s procession a jam-packed colourful feast for the eyes! The procession was cheered along by residents from the estate before arriving to a cheering crowd of over 2,500 at St Margaret’s Primary School.

After a warm welcome from the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Zulfiqar Ali and Festival Co-ordinator Rick Walker, the afternoon’s festivities kicked off. There was plenty to do and see including: a climbing wall from City Climb, inflatables, facepainting, Skylight circus and trapeze workshops, the Take 5 activity challenge, dance, martial arts and MCing workshops, African drumming workshops with NESTAC and samba drumming workshops with Batutta, community stalls and tombolas raising money for lots of different great causes, 5-a-side football with Rochdale Football Club culminating in a match between Heywood Police and some Darnhill Residents – with Darnhill winning 5-0! The Police Pod was on site next to the Love Food Hate Waste van, and St Margaret’s Church were serving much needed refreshments on this lovely sunny day.

But the fun didn’t stop there. There was basket weaving under the gypsy sail with Shaista Nazir, graffiti workshops with Joanna Ricketts and pottery sessions with Brad. At 3pm The YARD seniors opened the performance showcase with a dance piece that really got the crowd cheering. They paved the way for individual and duet dance and song performances from local young people, before St Margaret’s dance troupe closed the show with their dazzling dance routine.

The atmosphere throughout the day was electric with a real buzz of festivity in the air. It is the people of Darnhill who come along, cheer the procession on and take part that make this community celebration the fantastic day that it is.

Darnhill Festival Association and Cartwheel Arts would like to thank everybody who volunteered on the day – your hard work made the day possible and it is much appreciated, it couldn’t be done without you.

They would also like to thank: St Margaret’s Primary School and Church, Heywood Township, Guinness Northern Counties, Link4Life, Rochdale Council, Morrisons, Surestart, GMP - especially Jenny and Sharon, Rochdale Youth Service and all the individuals and businesses that donated to the festival.

Now it's time to start thinking about the Christmas Festival! If you have any ideas or would like to be involved in the 2010 Darnhill Christmas Festival please contact Rick or Lucy on

01706 361300 or admin@cartwheelarts.org.uk