ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Arts and culture is alive and well in South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire’s Arts, Culture and Heritage sector creates wider economic and social benefits including supporting tourism, health, education and generating a sense of community and wellbeing.

Arts, Culture and Heritage remains a priority for our region as we continue to build on the potential of our outstanding natural, heritage, cultural and artistic assets and people both in urban and rural areas.

In 2021 the MCA allocated £1m to the arts, culture and heritage sector in South Yorkshire. This Fund marks a clear statement of intent, to actively strengthen our creative talent and organisations and to start to unlock the untapped potential of art, culture and heritage in South Yorkshire. It has been a collaboratively designed programme between SYMCA and the 4 Local Authorities, with the intention of safeguarding the future of the cultural and creative industries across South Yorkshire. 

Our region has a wealth of creative talent and impressive cultural assets to showcase to the rest of the UK and the world.

Meet our Creatives

What's happening in the region?

Children's Capital of Culture

In 2017, writing charity Grimm & Co asked local children and young people: "If you were in charge of Rotherham, what would you do?"

Thirty young ambassadors created a response: a manifesto for the borough's future.

They took it to the borough's change-makers – the Council and cultural organisations. These change-makers saw that local children and young people were passionate about where they lived. And they wanted to nurture this passion. So they set a new goal: for Rotherham to become the world's first Children's Capital of Culture in 2025.

Children's Capital of Culture shows Rotherham's commitment to giving children and young people a voice. To them playing an active role in the borough's future. And to making Rotherham a place they are proud to call home.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is the lead delivery partner, supported by a huge number of organisations. All of them are working to turn that ambition into a reality.

Find out more at www.childrenscapitalofculture.co.uk

Crossed Wires, The Podcast Festival

A brand-new festival, which brings the UK’s top names in podcasting to South Yorkshire, has been made possible thanks to sponsorship from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

Crossed Wires, The Podcast Festival, launched in Sheffield on Friday 31 May 2024, giving audiences the chance to be part of the live recording of many of the nation’s top podcasts over the weekend. It was created by podcaster Alice Levine, producer Dino Sofos, and festival founder James O’Hara.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is a Crossed Wires' regional partner and host sponsor, providing funding of £325,000. 

During the festival, Sheffield's most iconic venues were packed for blockbuster live shows, never-seen-before performances and special guests - all hosted by the most respected names in podcasting, across comedy, current affairs, culture, sport, family and wellbeing.

Crossed Wires returns for 2025, on 4-6th July. Find out more at www.crossedwires.live

Little Amal

Representing millions of refugees forced to leave their homes, in 2021 Little Amal walked 8,000 miles from the Turkey-Syria border to Manchester with a simple message: "don't forget about us." Her penultimate stop was the first ever City of Sanctuary. This is the story of the people who helped to welcome her, and the experiences she had visiting Sheffield.

Find out more on the Walk with Amal website.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

The hugely anticipated film - produced by Sheffield-based Warp Films, directed by Sheffield-born Jonathan Butterell, and adapted from Sheffield Theatres’ massively successful stage production turned West-End smash hit - finally hit our screens in 2021. 

On 17 September 2021 there was a very special premiere screening for cast and media at the Crucible Theatre with a 'pink' carpet in Tudor Square, right back where Jamie Campbell's inspirational story was first told to theatregoers. 

Having been delayed a cinematic release, the film finally launched to select independent cinemas and on Amazon Prime Video on the 17 September.

Sheffield celebrated this brilliant tale of inclusivity and diversity that is set in and around the wonderful city by putting on FREE screenings with Cinema For All, a special display of props and costumes in Sheffield Winter Garden, and some Jamie themed parties and events at venues around the city too.