We’re delighted to announce we’ve received ongoing funding from Postcode Neighbourhood Trust! Over the next 3 years this funding will go towards supporting our core work to bring events, workshops, and ongoing projects to life which amplify often unheard voices in the community, enabling more women to take part, share their stories, and feel connected through Carnival art.
This Funding awarded by Postcode X Trust and raised by Postcode Lottery players (thank you!)
Image: Andrew Hayhurst
Come paint silk with us this March! We’re looking for volunteers to come help us finish paint some beautiful silks for a great project for Roots Rotherham. We’ll also be prepping lots of costume pieces to be made for the parade (cutting, sticking, painting).
Dates & Times:
Thursday 19th March: 1pm – 8pm
Friday 20th March: 11am – 4pm
Saturday 21st March: 11am – 4pm
Where: Studio 3*, The Vale, Vale Mill, Micklehurst Road, Mossley, Greater Manchester, OL5 9JL
No experience needed.
Suitable for ages 14+ (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult).
*There is no step free access to Studio 3, so please bear this in mind when booking onto the session if you have physical access needs.
Email [email protected] to sign up
We want to extend a MASSIVE thank you to our amazing team of volunteers who bring so much energy, skill, and joy to our work. It delights us to have members of our wider community spending their time with us doing something they love. Whether working with Global Grooves, Cabasa, The Vale*, or a mixture, we couldn’t do it without you. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come along and raise a glass with us whilst checking out some of the brilliant adventures that happen here at The Vale.
Date: Wed 28th January 2026
Times: 7pm – 10pm
Cost: FREE EVENT
Where: The Vale, Micklehurst Road, Mossley, OL5 9JL
Timings of the Night
7pm: arrivals and chatting time
7:30pm – 10pm:
– meet some of our newest puppets and their makers, and grab a selfie!
– get your feet tapping with a short performance from the Global Grooves Youth Bloco
– watch showreel footage from our latest new shows, hot off the press!
– hear from our brilliant volunteers and participants about their experiences with us
– updates from Global Grooves, Cabasa, and The Vale about exciting projects coming up
*Global Grooves is the Carnival organisation behind the creation of the Vale, and Cabasa are a key partner organisation based in the same Carnival centre.
Are you a professional performer or have experience in dance/theatre/movement/stilts/Carnival/circus etc)? If this sounds like you then we’d love to hear from you.
We’re running a short evening training session in October and it will be a chance to find out more about Cabasa and our gigs, try out some of our costumes, back pack wings, large puppets, and to meet the team.
Training will be provided as part of this informal audition process at our studio in Mossley, Tameside. We are particularly keen to hear from local performers to Greater Manchester.
We are an outdoor arts organisation so performers will need to be resilient and manage in all weathers.
Date and time: Thursday 10th October 7pm – 9pm
If you’d be interested, email [email protected] and tell us a little bit about your performance experience.
Emily Wood our Artistic Director has scooped a national award from Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency. The prestigious award will support her to grow her innovative business idea which will enable Cabasa to become more climate kind in our work in carnival arts and textiles.
Building on the success of Innovate UK’s targeted programmes, like Women in Innovation and Young Innovators, this latest funding is designed to find and support the fresh innovation talent the UK needs.
Emily is among the 233 high-potential innovators who has been awarded a £50,000 grant. Critically, she will also receive 12 months of tailored business support to help her grow, stimulating the UK’s economy.
“ I am a Carnival artist working in visual arts, textiles, costume, sculpture and processional art. My company, Cabasa CIC, delivers large scale carnival and outdoor art works across the UK. We work with expert professional artists, although many of our projects also engage and celebrate the voices of marginalised groups. We work for a range of clients including local authorities, town teams, Business Improvement Districts, commercial retail centres and other arts organisations.
Like many organisational leaders, I have been increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of our work. This includes topics such as synthetic dyes (used extensively in producing costume and banners) and outdoor sculptures/installations. I have begun to explore a range of natural dye alternatives, and to consider natural and locally grown textile alternatives for costumes.With support from Innovate UK I can now undertake a period of intensive R&D, leading to the development of two new public art works which can be deployed in a wide range of settings, bringing joy, energy and celebration to our shared spaces. These works will have a high level of sustainability built into their entire production cycle and will also involve audiences in questions around our relationships with public art, design, and textiles”
In line with the UK’s growing appetite for innovation, this new award programme was amongst the most highly engaged funding competitions Innovate UK has ever delivered – with over 2,100 entrepreneurs applying for funding and business mentorship. There is an urgent need to transform the UK’s skills and talent pipeline, through inspiring and connecting people to new opportunities and pathways into innovation. Innovate UK estimates that, to achieve the UK’s full economic potential, 400,000 more innovators need to be supported, from entrepreneurs to engineers.
Coinciding with the Awards announcement, Innovate UK has joined forces with over 150 partner organisations to launch its free and accessible No Limits digital platform, which makes it easy for aspiring innovators to discover new career paths, sharpen their skills and access opportunities to develop life-changing innovations and future-proof the UK economy.
Read more about our ongoing work using natural dyes and processes at https://cabasacarnivalarts.com/the-living-dress/
If you’re an aspiring innovator, or a business looking to connect with new talent, check out nolimits.ukri.org to find support and inspiration.