The ambitious winter festival, powered by Waterside Arts, returns to illuminate Sale town centre in Trafford from Thursday 21 to Saturday 23 November.
Following the triumphant success of Waterside’s inaugural Prism Festival in 2023, audiences of all ages can again witness music, projection and light performance creating magical and thought-provoking experiences during this three-day festival.
Prism Light Trail, a community-led project, curated by Things That Go On Things in partnership with Leeway Creative Productions, will see a series of light installations through Sale Town Centre designed by children and young people in the borough.
The Light Trail is based on an original concept by Trafford-based public artist Venessa Scott, award-winning artist Sarah Greaves and the communities of Trafford.
Simple yet effective pools of light will animate the town centre in a stunning trail will run daily from dusk til dawn brightening up the dark winter nights.
This year’s festival centre piece will be Minute Taker: Nocturnal Monologues, an original commission by Waterside Arts. Breathtakingly visual, Nocturnal Monologues is an open-air, multiscreen, cinematic experience set to a live synthwave soundtrack of ethereal, 80s-inspired songs by Minute Taker.
Part Blade Runner, part 1984, and featuring the occasional Thriller-esque dance sequence, this outdoor spectacle will be free to attend each evening throughout the festival.
Prism Festival continues in the indoor theatre space with SURGE VR, a virtual reality version of Tom Dale Company’s immersive dance performance SURGE, which wowed audiences at last year’s festival.
SURGE VR enables the audience to explore and interact with a digital version of the immersive dance piece. Featuring exclusive new music from Ital Tek, this digital re-imagining of live choreography lasts up to 15 minutes. Audiences are free to move around the space both physically and digitally to explore their spatial environment. Suitable for ages 13+
Tom Dale Company combine movement, electronic music and the digital arts working at the cutting edge of performance. There are slots on each day of the festival, bookable in advance. Each slot is for a maximum of three people.
New for Prism 2024, families and young people can join Our Kids Social for Let’s Glo UV Family Silent Disco. Expect a super fun dayglo afternoon at their UV discotastic family party on Sat 23 November. With LED hoopers and UV facepaint, dances, props, bubbles and more.
This year at Prism 2024, Waterside will showcase the first in a series of live gigs introducing groundbreaking new artists; Dirty Freud on Thurs 21 Nov and Good Habits on Fri 22 Nov in Waterside’s intimate performance space, The Chambers.
Dirty Freud is an electronic live and recording artist who has found success since moving to the North of England. Their music simply put is Live Electronica wrapped in Jazz melodies.
One of the most exciting new indie-folk bands to come out of the UK in recent years, Good Habits’ award-winning, genre-fusing sound has received international critical acclaim in the short 4 years they have.
Composed of Bonnie Schwarz (cello + vocals) and Pete Shaw (accordion), the pair mix revved-up virtuosity and harmony with vivid storytelling, drawing on their diverse musical tastes and weaving them into an action-packed narrative of genre-bending folky goodness.
Festival Curator and Waterside Manger Darren Adams says:
“”I’m delighted to unveil our programme for Prism 2024. This festival has always represented a bold vision, and we’re incredibly grateful to our funders, supporters, and the amazing team working tirelessly to bring this immersive experience to life.
Our lineup features a dynamic mix of high-impact events, blending digital arts with cutting-edge technology in new, creative ways. We invite everyone to join us for an unforgettable time at Prism 2024, launching this year’s festive season right from Trafford’s TV cultural hub, Waterside.”
Prism Festival runs from Thu 21 – Sat 23 November.
View the festival programme here:
