Lives Reimagined through art
SICK! has a new rhythm. Creative Resuscitation: Festival CPR shifts our biennial festival to a year-round movement. A tempo that turns audiences into creators. Swaps burnout for sustained care. Starts a flow between local roots and global partners.
Beat One was where we began. The first pulse in a cycle of bold experiments.
A living prototype of programme strands, our Presentations, Social Prescribing and Creative Pathways animated by performance, participation and collective care, unfolding over time.
This October we continue with Beat Two: Collapsing what no longer serves, Prototyping and preparing, and Reimagining the future of SICK!
Find our archive events for Beat One here.
And see Beat Two events coming to Greater Manchester this autumn below.
Presentations
Get involved, Find a new rhythm
Engage with vital artists and artworks that put lived experiences of health, inequality and identity centre stage.
ON THIN ICE
Escape to Finland’s fragile winter wonderland with On Thin Ice, an immersive audio holiday blending ice fishing, climate change and a refreshing Nordic mocktail, presented as part of our Communal Art Cafe!
Building The Auntiverse
Have you ever wondered what the world would look like if it was only designed by aunties? Step into a playful, powerful and thought-provoking guided walk in North Manchester.
Ecologies of Repair
Step into an immersive AR world to encounter a landscape where plants, water, science, myth and magic merge.
DOWN TO EARTH
Set off on a journey beyond the boundaries of the global and the local – towards your planetary self!
The Treatment
Part gig, part live theatre show, this new grime-theatre show from renowned MC, musician and performer Manchester Hypes explores the links between hyperactivity, ADHD and creativity.
Post show (Fri), Afterparty (Sat).
The Bureaucratic Escape Room
An immersive role-play installation inviting participants to experience bureaucracy from within, question the systems that shape everyday life and imagine how they might be different.
Birthed from Rain and River – Dry Event
What Makes A Queer Home? This sonic jigsaw invites listeners into different perspectives on the queer experience.
Birthed from Rain and River
What Makes A Queer Home? This sonic jigsaw invites listeners into different perspectives on the queer experience.
Creative Pathways
Where conversation inspires creation
Get right into the heart of things. Shape ideas, influence commissions and build skills for the future.
Communal Art Cafe
Join us for a free afternoon bursting with creativity, hands-on workshops, good company and a cuppa, including the launch of ‘On Thin Ice’, a new artistic excursion.
TOWARDS OTHER FORMS OF BEING
In response to Nina Rantala’s Down to Earth, this is a workshop for those who want to physically imagine other forms of existence.
Calendar
We've been busy behind the scenes.
Our vision is evolving, our award-winning year-round programmes are growing, and a bold new chapter is unfolding with our new brand.
SICK! is more than a festival. We're a North Manchester-based arts organisation with local roots and global collaborations, using arts and creativity to connect people, communities, and artists, making everyone creators of fairer, healthier futures.
Browse archive website
Social Prescribing
Making space for creativity as care
Build confidence and spark connection through inclusive, artist-led events that support mental wellbeing.
SICK! NOTES
A live podcast event bringing women and girls’ voices to the forefront, exploring the pressures, inequalities and everyday challenges impacting their health and wellbeing.