A brand new cultural event of visual arts and live entertainment is coming to Oxford Road Corridor

From October 21-23rd, a plethora of brand new visual arts commissions, installations and live entertainment will lighten and liven up Manchester city centre’s unique Oxford Road Corridor from 6-10 pm nightly for the first-ever Corridor of Light cultural event.

Stretching for one square mile south of Manchester Central Library in St Peter’s Square, this inaugural three-day event funded with support of Arts Council England is in partnership with the Corridor’s many venues and institutions. It will shed a spotlight on all their extraordinary talent, achievements and future possibilities.

Featuring a programme of specially commissioned new work from the acclaimed UK and international artists alongside Manchester-based talent, Corridor of Light is a celebration of the people who live, study and work in this unique geographic location. It will champion the transformative and powerful role arts and culture can play in supporting communities.

The event aims to ‘inspire people to envision better futures’ as we re-emerge from challenging times as a city.

A free event in Manchester

Entirely free to attend and runs from 6 pm to 10 pm across the three nights – Corridor of Light will bring together artists, writers, students, poets, and performers, to tell their stories of Oxford Road. With a focus on language, music, light and ideas, this special series of events and experiences will bring to life the Corridor’s unique constellation of knowledge and culture, championing the area’s change-makers, both past and present.

Corridor of Light 2021 opens with the arrival of Recovery Poems at Manchester Central Library, accompanied by choral singing from LGBTQ+ low voice choir The Sunday Boys in the library’s Reading Room. A performance of two specially commissioned new stanzas for Made in Manchester, a community poem in 65 different languages, follows. Written by communities working with Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University, this living composition will eventually represent every language spoken in Manchester, the UK’s language capital.

Corridor Of Light Plus

Corridor Of Light Plus sees late-night openings, food, drinks, DJs, live music and more taking place across many of the Corridor’s venues.

Illuminated Buildings

Illuminated Buildings will result in architecture from Manchester Central and Cobbett House to Kan Yasuda’s Touchstone outside The Bridgewater Hall lit up in celebration and welcome.

Award-winning architectural practice Tonkin Liu have designed Tower of Light, a stunning façade enclosing a highly efficient source of heat and power for Manchester’s most iconic buildings – a revolutionary new addition to the Corridor.