Best of the Fest: A guide to Sheffield’s summer events

Vibes are not only about music! Find in this guide other festivals and events to delight yours during the summer months!

MIGRATION MATTERS FESTIVAL // 16-24 JUNE

Acts from around the globe will star at this year’s Migration Matters Festival, an event hailed as a cultural sanctuary amid national anti-migrant rhetoric. The biggest UK festival of its kind, which saw 12,000 people taking part in 2022, returns to Sheffield next month with headliners including world-renowned Kenyan Afro Pop band Sauti Sol, who will bring their soulful rhythms to the Leadmill stage on 23 June. 

Sam Holland, director of the festival now in its eighth year, said: “Programme wise we have ramped it up this year and are being incredibly ambitious. Our lineup truly spans the globe. Given the rhetoric coming from Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the protests against the Illegal Migration Bill, there’s a certain bleakness right now about the country’s migration and refugee situation. It feels more essential than ever to have the festival to bring all communities together and so people who don’t feel safe have a cultural sanctuary.”

Migration Matters Festival was founded to celebrate the positive impact migration and refugees have in Sheffield, which is the country’s first City of Sanctuary, and gives unrepresented communities a voice.

The full programme and tickets are available at migrationmattersfestival.co.uk. You can follow the festival on socials @migmatfest.

 DOCFEST // 14-19 JUNE

Sheffield DocFest celebrates its 30th year in 2023. As the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects, DocFest champions and presents the breadth of documentary form – film, television, immersive and art.  

Last month, the festival announced that Paul Sng’s TISH will open this year’s event on 14 June 2023, an intimate portrait of British documentary photographer Tish Murtha, and her daughter’s fight to preserve her legacy.  

Following a successful return to in-person delivery last year, the 2023 instalment returns to Sheffield venues including The Crucible Theatre with a series of in-person talks, screenings, and extended Q&As. Joining the speakers line up of public talks and events will be satirist and broadcaster Munya Chawawa, presenting a talk titled Satire in Documentary, supported by Channel 4. He will discuss his unique approach to integrating satire in non-fiction keeping viewers engaged and cleverly informed.  

The Festival Pass is available from £180 and provides access to the full festival programme of films, exhibitions, talks, panels, industry sessions and live pitches, networking events and parties.

For more info, head to sheffdocfest.com.

SHEAF POETRY FESTIVAL// 21-28 MAY

For lovers of creative prose and insightful verse, Sheaf Poetry Festival returns to celebrate the best in UK poetry, spoken word and lyrics. The festival will take place in venues across Sheffield and the Peak District, with live-streaming for online audiences and live-captioned events.

Aiming to draw in audiences that might not normally feel that poetry events are for them, there’s a dynamic mixture of activities on offer and a focus on issues that matter to people.

Festival Director Suzannah Evans said: “We’re so excited to be bringing such a range of poetry events to Sheffield and the Peak District this May. Whether you’re a writer, poetry lover, interested in one of our festival themes, or just want to try something new – we hope you’ll find something for you at Sheaf Poetry Festival.”

The main festival weekend, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th May, will take place in the newly-opened Theatre Deli premises on Arley Street, but for the first time there will also be events in some exciting green spaces. On Sunday 21 May the festival comes to National Trust Longshaw Estate, where peak District poet Katharine Towers will be leading an afternoon of activities around ‘The Poetry of Trees’.

On 26 May, there will be two, extra spooky events in Sheffield General Cemetery, as part of a festival residency from Dead Women Poets Society, whose mission is to ‘resurrect’ forgotten female writers of the past with readings from living poets.

Single tickets for festival events are priced between £0-£18, with most events having a Pay As You Feel option for anybody wanting to attend that would find it difficult to afford the suggested ticket price. 

SHEFFIELD FOOD FESTIVAL // 26-29 MAY

For the last decade, Sheffield Food Festival has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to the city to celebrate food and drink from across the region and beyond.

The mouthwatering festival will be taking over the city centre during the end of May Bank Holiday weekend, from 26 to 29 May, showcasing over 50 traders, 16 acts, 2 DJs, live cooking showcases and 3 special evening events. The festival – which attracts around 40,000 visitors each year – is a bustling exhibition of Sheffield’s flourishing food and drink scene, and almost 90 per cent of the traders who take part are based in the city region. 

There will be four sections to visit: the traditional street food area, the artisan market, the info village and the main stage and bar. The festival will take place across Sheffield’s Peace Gardens, St Paul’s Parade, Millennium Square, Town Hall Square and Pinstone Street with the info village in the Winter Gardens.

Things get cooking on Friday 26 May, 5pm, with Drag Bingo just in the Peace Gardens Village, where the main bar and some food traders will be serving. From 10am-6pm on 27, 28 and 29 May, all traders will be open with live music on the main stage throughout the day, followed by Saturday Night Disco and Sunday Steel City Quiz Night from 6pm in the Peace Gardens Village.

Entry is free. Follow @sheffoodfest for more info.