Which Rotherham Children’s Capital of Culture events could continue in 2026?

Partners are considering which Rotherham events could continue following the Children’s Capital of Culture Festival Year.

As the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture in 2025, Rotherham has been redefining how creativity, civic purpose and collaboration can be shaped by children and young people. It has led to a number of high profile events taking place in Rotherham town centre and across the borough.

With a budget of over £500,000 set for Council events for the next financial year, the Council’s ambition is for Rotherham to be the best it can, by making sure as many people as possible who live in Rotherham can take part in high quality cultural, leisure and sporting activities.

For the Children’s Capital of Culture, 2025 started with large-scale land art installations and Otherham, which included projections across Rotherham town centre that presented an alternate reality Rotherham sprung from the imaginations of children and young people.

Signals Festival continued, featuring nine days celebrating the talents of young people, as did Roots: Rotherham Street Carnival. The UK’s largest community opera brought more than 2,000 children and young people together to perform stories of Rotherham’s spirit and imagination.

In sport, the School Baton Relay & Festival of Sport saw 84 schools participating in a ten day school baton relay crisscrossing the borough and culminating in a Festival of Sport at Herringthorpe Stadium. In the summer, the UPLIFT Urban Sports Festival took over the town centre.

Plug In & Play focused on video games whilst the Festival of Stories included two weeks of storytelling, magic and mischief at Grimm & Co.

As part of the programme, young people also got to input into events at key tourism destinations through the RHS Flower Show at Wentworth Woodhouse and the Land of Lights at Gulliver's Valley.

Another Roots Street Carnival and the Children’s Capital of Culture birthday party are also scheduled in for this month.

So far, the Rotherham Children’s Capital of Culture events have had over 513,709 participations from children, young people, families and residents from across the borough and wider region. Participation in the borough tracked at 10% below the national average in 2019, and Children’s Capital of Culture say that they have achieved 83,743 "active participations" in activities during the 2025 festival year.

The Festival Year saw a marked uplift in delivery however it also gave organisers an opportunity to test and trial events that could be delivered on an annual basis.

A Rotherham Council report shows that Signals Music Festival and the Festival of Stories will continue, with UPLIFT Urban Sports Festival continuing on a Friday evening and one day (reduced down from the original three days). Otherham is set to be refocused, possibly in the guise of the recent Winter Lights Festival, but its game over for Plug In & Play as it is not set to continue.

The council's own events that are set to continue include the massive Rotherham Show, Bonfire Night at Clifton Park and the Christmas Lights Switch On in the town centre. A new event planned for April will celebrate St George's Day.

Council papers show audiences for town centre events increased by 13% year-on-year from 2021 to 2025 and Rotherham Show reached its largest audience to date in 2025 with 95,500.

The events programme also brings significant return of investment for the local economy with town centre events generating a £5.74 return for every £1 the Council invests, and Rotherham Show generating a return of £13.06 for every £1 invested by the Council.

Children’s Capital of Culture website

Images: Children’s Capital of Culture / Grimm & Co.