MMF'2016

After coordinating a week in 2015 to commemorate Refugee Week, co-founders Sam Holland and Sarah Sharp acquired funding from Arts Council England with support from the University of Sheffield to pull together the very first Migration Matters Festival celebrating underrepresented cultures and communities across Sheffield. All events took place at Theatre Deli in its first home on The Moor.

The festival saw cross-arts events over 9-days (17th-25th June) in what would be the first of this format that would be delivered for years to come. The festival worked closely with refugee and migrant support charities to ensure their volunteers and service users were offered opportunities to be part of the week.

On the 23rd June, during the week of the festival the UK voted to leave the European Union. In what was a stark moment for all concerned with the festival, the success of the week and the subsequent response from audience members demonstrated the need for a festival like this and gave us the motivation to make it happen again.