
When light and water meet, magic emerges…
The Spirit of the North has been summoned this winter…A bringer of light and hope into the hearts and minds of our community.
As the rain falls
And we bring light
The spirits will come out to play
Will you bring your light this winter to summon the Spirit of the North?
THE SPIRIT OF THE NORTH
Mother of the spirits. A bringer of hope. A beacon in the darkness.
THE LIGHT SPIRIT
Golden, sparkling, bringer of warmth and light.
THE WATER SPIRIT
Free flowing, transformational, bringer of life.
THE RAINBOW SPIRIT
Combiner of the elements and bringer of joy.

We worked with the following Tameside-based organisations to tell their stories on The Spirit Of The North lead figure:
– Age UK
– The Anthony Seddon Fund
– Khush Amdid
– The Townhouse (Stronger Together Tameside)
Our partners Mossley Writers worked with these organisations to tell their stories based on our theme of light and hope. We took their ideas and stories to inspire our designs, which were then turned into hand painted fabrics as part of our main figurehead reflecting ideas, feelings, and cultures of the local area.
Here are some images of the making process, we cannot create this or any large-scale work without the help of our volunteer community of Mas makers.
Credits & Thanks
Team Cabasa:
Artistic Director: Emily Wood
Executive Producer: Kate Rothery
Digital and Comms: Dan Jones
Spirit Of The North Lead Figure:
The Light Spirit: designed by Iola Weir with Global Grooves Future Leaders students and further developed by Cabasa.
The Water Spirit: Created and designed by Iola Weir, with thanks to NDP Circus
The Rainbow Spirit: created and designed by Rowan Taylor.
Assistant Artists:
Costume Team:
Costume Assistants:
Writing workshops: Pat Baker and Maralyn from Mossley Writers
SON stories and silk design inspiration developed with: The Anthony Seddon Fund, Khush Amdid, Age UK Tameside, The Townhouse (Stronger Together Tameside)
Studio Assistants & Volunteers:
Sue Ferner
Janet Gorman
Katherine Wyers
Fiona Doyle
Kitty Aurora
Anne-Marie Cauldwell
Ruth Balmforth
Kush Amdid
Deepak Distri
Rachel Hirst
Massive thanks to the whole team at Global Grooves and The Vale Mossley for their continued support and beautiful space.
First Produced for Tameside Council as part of Northern Lights 2022.
Photos by: Sam Orchard, Richard Tymon, Mark Waugh