Manchester will once again host The Future is Ours Festival, a city-wide arts programme championing young people’s voices and experiences. Created by young people’s mental health charity 42nd Street, the festival returns celebrating its 7th year with a programme of installations, exhibitions and events across the city.
42nd Street is an innovative young people’s mental health charity based in Greater Manchester. With over 50 years’ experience, it provides free, confidential support to 11-25 year olds experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties, using creative, rights-based and young person-centred approaches.
The welcoming space has been co-designed with young people in mind to feel safe, comfortable and inspired. Support is offered by qualified practitioners offering a choice of one-to-one counselling, therapy and psychosocial sessions, in person and online and a range of group work including peer support, social action, arts and creativity.
By placing young people’s voices at its core, The Future is Ours festival transforms Manchester’s public and cultural spaces into platforms for expression and connection. It makes a compelling case for creative mental health support as an essential approach that has lasting impact, whilst also inviting audiences to hear, understand and celebrate the perspectives of young people today, expressed through their art.
The need for this work in Greater Manchester and the wider UK is clear. In 2025 alone, 42nd Street supported over 5000 diverse young people across the region. The outcomes are compelling, with almost 1 in 3 experiencing clinically significant improvements and nearly 1 in 4 achieving clinical recovery.
42nd Street’s creative space and cultural centre, The Horsfallis at the heart of the festival. The dedicated creative space in Manchester is a unique, young person-led creative space where individuals can explore art to support their mental health, confidence and sense of belonging.
Rod Kippen, Clinical Lead for Creativity and Social Action, said: “The Future Is Ours festival is a space that celebrates young people – for their creativity, voice and action. Young people need spaces to share who they are and what they want to see in the future. The festival celebrates taking young people seriously, supporting them to create work that matters to them. Mental health challenges often leave people feeling disconnected from their sense-of-self and agency, and creativity is a great tool to re-connect with yourself, to have agency, to effect change and find connection with others.”
Hafsa H, Artist in residence at The Horsfall, said: “The Horsfall is the biggest turning point in my life so far. It represents someone taking a chance on me.”
Mark Aldous, Managing Director at Fred Aldous, said: “What The Horsfall does for young people in Manchester matters. We’ve been part of the same creative community for nearly 140 years, so giving over our window to young artists from 42nd street each year feels like the least we can do. We’re proud to be involved and we’ll keep doing it for as long as they’ll have us.”
We see every day how creative expression can support mental health, build confidence and create a sense of belonging. This festival is a celebration of that work, but it’s also a call to recognise the importance of accessible, relevant opportunities for young people across the region and beyond.”
Supporters and sponsors of the festival include: Nell’s Pizza, Scoop Brand Communications, The Lowry, HOME, Applique Apparel Ltd, Fred Aldous, Steep Soda Co and Manchester Central Library.
The Future is Ours Festival runs throughout May and June at venues across Manchester. For symposium tickets, full event listings and information on how to support the charity, visit: https://www.thehorsfall.org.
