A celebration of Oxford Road Corridor through language, light and ideas

Welcome to Corridor of Light, a three-night celebration of the Oxford Road Corridor through language, light and ideas. Explore Manchester’s innovation district as its stories are revealed by encounters with visual art, installations and live entertainment.

Entirely free to attend, and running from 6pm to 10pm, 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 the past and present.

View the programme online or download the programme here

Bright Lights

Celebrating new ideas, innovation and creativity

Get the latest news from Oxford Road in your inbox

Festival Features

Artworks presented in a new context for Corridor of Light

literature Recovery Poems
Multiple venues | 21 – 23 October 2021

Recovery Poem is an inspiring installation that will travel Corridor of Light, reflecting on loss and positive change as we gather again after lockdown.

visual arts The Fire Garden
Homeground | 22 – 23 October 2021

Walk The Plank bring The Fire Garden to HOME as part of Corridor of Light. Bask if the primal warmth of fire at the former Homeground site.

literature The Stories Under Our Feet
Manchester Central Library | 21 – 23 October 2021

Artist Elisa Artesero brings illuminates The Stories Under Our Feet with a subtle installation outside Manchester Central Library.

visual arts Our Beating Heart
Circle Square | 21 – 23 October 2021

Our Beating Heart bathes Circle Square in light from a mirror ball on a grand scale in a beautiful work from Studio Vertigo.

performance Black Gold Arts
Contact Theatre | 21 – 23 October 2021

For Corridor of Light and Black Gold Arts Festival, Contact’s windows will be lit up with images of Manchester artist and theatre-maker Chanje Kunda.

visual arts Where There Is Light
The Holy Name Church | 23 October 2021

In the 150th year of Holy Name Church, Where There Is Light questions where we find light in our lives, ourselves, others and in the world around us. Sharing the voices and stories of asylum seekers and highlighting the struggles of refugees. Free but booking required.

Reveal

Projects and activities grown entirely in the Oxford Road Corridor by the people who live and work here

music Studio 8 Installation
The Royal Northern College of Music | 21 – 23 October 2021

Studio 8 Installations features conversations between international students and local communities in a cutting edge digital studio at The Royal Northern College of Music.

visual arts Many Types of Graces
The Royal Northern College of Music | 21 – 23 October 2021

Social arts practice May Wild Studio and Royal Northern College of Music’s international students present a captivating, site-specific installation.

visual arts Illuminating Nature
The Manchester Museum | 21 – 23 October 2021

Manchester Museum will have a new display in its window featuring a number of stunning shells which glow a brilliant, florescent pink and show just how magical nature can be.

music The Sunday Boys
The Whitworth | 22 October 2021

The Sunday Boys bring their own brand of atmospheric choral song to the Whitworth’s Sculpture Terrace on Friday evening alongside Recovery Poems.

literature The New Arrivals
Number 70 Oxford Street | 21 – 23 October 2021

In The New Arrival, three comic artists, each representing a UNESCO City of Literature, have brought to life a treatment by poet, playwright and fiction writer Pete Kalu.

visual arts Pendulum Wave Machine
Brunswick Park | 21 – 23 October 2021

The mechanical marvel is a fusion of science and art that will delight visitors to Corridor of Light who can view the spectacle from a specially cast, concrete bench which has been reinforced with graphene.

literature Postcards from Oxford Road
Manchester Poetry Library | 21 – 23 October 2021

Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Poetry Library have co-commissioned three wonderful acclaimed poets to create Postcards from The Road, new poems that capture their personal connections, memories and reflections of Oxford Road

literature Voices for Freedom
Manchester Poetry Library | 21 – 22 October 2021

A fusion of poetry, dance and oral history curated by internationally recognised poet SuAndi of the National Black Arts Alliance and developed in collaboration with Manchester Poetry Library

Tower of Light

A visible commitment to sustainability and designed by award-winning architectural practice Tonkin Liu, this 40m high flue tower and shell lace structural façade encloses a highly efficient source of heat and power for some of Manchester’s most iconic buildings.

Festival of Ideas

A strand of specially curated conversations presented as a response to the Corridor of Light programme, with featured artists reflecting on its themes, and on the Oxford Road Corridor itself.

talk Festival of Ideas: Algorave revealed
Online | 21 October 2021

British musician and co-founder of algorave Alex McLean joins new media artist and curator Antonio Roberts online,, from 4-5pm on 21 October to discuss algorave with fellow contributors.

PRESENTED BY

WITH SUPPORT OF

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

FIRE GARDEN AT HOME SPONSORED BY

HOTEL PARTNER

LIGHTING PARTNER