Global Grooves - Manchester

04/06/2026

We had a great time bringing The Great Garden Carnival (a Cabasa x GG collab) to Festival Oldham on Saturday, the sun was shining! Great to kick off Oldham’s year as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture. Check out these great photos.

📸 Darren Robinson, Ian Hodgson.

03/06/2026

Can't wait to hit the Streets of Stalybridge this June for 50 Years of Stalybridge Carnival.

In 2026 Stalybridge Carnival celebrates its 50th anniversary! To mark this milestone we’re creating a brand new processional piece for the anniversary parade on Sunday 28 June!

Here's a sneaky peek from last week's rehearsal at Stalybridge Civic Hall 🔥

This project is funded by Historic England, through the UK Government’s Know Your Neighbourhood Fund.

Historic England Arts Council England

02/06/2026

New percussion courses! We’re so excited to have Christian Weaver delivering these workshops in 2026! Christian studied with Pello el Afrokan in Cuba in the 1990s. He has many years of experience teaching Cuban music in the UK and currently directs the La Timbala / Oi Musica Cuban Big Band in Edinburgh.

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Cuban Conga - All about the Tumbadora

🗓 Sun 5 July
⏰ 11am - 4pm
📍 The Vale in Mossley

We're so excited to announce this one-day workshop. which aims to give insight into the Cuban Tumbadora (Tumbadora is the Cuban name for drums often referred to as congas).

In all its different sizes, all of which have multiple names, the tumbadora is the most common and popular drum in Cuba. It's used in many popular music styles like rumba, salsa and carnival music, as well as many types of religious ritual music such as bembé and guiro.

The workshop will introduce the background of the instrument, how it's played (Cuban popular technique), and how its voice is used in a typical Cuban street/carnival music setting.

Sign up here: https://www.globalgrooves.org/whats-on/cuban-conga-all-about-the-tumbadora/
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Cuban Carnival: Introduction to El Mozambiqué

🗓 6 week short course (every Thursday eve)
🗓 15 Oct - 19 Nov
⏰ 7pm - 9:30pm
📍The Vale in Mossley

This short course is an introduction to the carnival music known as El Mozambiqué, developed by percussionists Pello el Afrokan in Cuba towards the end of the 1950s. El Mozambiqué developed the traditional percussions, brass and vocal music of carnival with new hybrid rhythms, mixed with existing parts to create a new style that swept the island!

Up for the challenge? These workshops will cover instrumental technique, basic parts and some variations for improvising, hearing the melody of the polyrhythm, and will work towards becoming familiar with the clave (the important organiser in Cuban music). We'll cover a number of short songs and eventually arrive at a full arrangement of a piece (percussion and vocals).

Sign up here: https://www.globalgrooves.org/whats-on/cuban-carnival-introduction-to-el-mozambique/

02/06/2026

This September we're so excited to welcome Chile's Afrobeat pioneers Newen Afrobeat to The Vale! It's gonna go off 🔥

Newen Afrobeat is one of the most powerful and influential bands in the Chilean and Latin American music scene. The band has become a leading voice of contemporary afrobeat, blending the legacy of Fela Kuti with Latin American rhythms, jazz, funk, and a strong political and social identity.

🗓 Saturday 5th September
⏰ 7.30pm
🎟 £22.50*
📍 The Vale, Vale Mill, Micklehurst Road, Mossley, Greater Manchester, OL5 9JL

Tickets: https://the-vale.co.uk/event/newen-afrobeat/

*A limited number of donate what you can tickets are available on a first come first served basis. We respect our audience’s privacy to choose the right ticket for their financial circumstances, no evidence required.

30/05/2026

Calling all Carnival artists, performers and enthusiasts – we need YOU to help create something incredible this August at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

On Friday 14th August 2026, we will be bringing Carnival colour to The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. This is your chance to help to put a smile on a child’s face and fill the hospital grounds with incredible music, dance, costumes and more.

Part of Better Together Festival 2026 with Songbirds Music UK, the Carnival parade will join an incredible day festival programme to share the power of music and performance with those who need it the most.

Is percussion, horns or movement your bag? Join the Carnival Bloco!

Prefer big puppets and costumes? We’ll be bringing along many of our favourite giants for you to perform with.

Want to support behind the scenes? We can’t do it without our Carnival Crew!

We need our Carnival community to help to bring the parade to life – take the morning off and join us to spread some joy for the children, families and staff at the hospital.

Everyone age 14+ welcome, no experience required.

You'll be needed 10:30am - 2:30pm

Sign up on our website: https://www.globalgrooves.org/whats-on/hospital-of-music-carnival/?

28/05/2026

This Saturday 30th May we’ll be at Festival Oldham bringing our fun, colourful celebration of nature with flora and forna inspired costumes, drummers and lovely puppet Sofiya. Another GG X Cabasa Collab.

The sun will be shining and we’ll be filling Oldham with vibrant summer Carnival vibes. We’ll be doing 3 mini parades in the town Centre at 12pm, 1.30pm and 3pm.

We love Festival Oldham, there’s loads going on over the day 🌞

Find out more at: https://hla.oldham.gov.uk/festival-oldham/

I love Oldham

27/05/2026

What. A. Vibe! Massive Congratualtions to our Emma Marsh for curating such an amazing day last Saturday for Africa: Rooted at Factory International. Here's a snapshot of the finale with our Manny and Gnawa Manchester.

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

Caixa Blast this June! Following popular demand, our resident director and percussion teacher Holly Prest is offering percussion classes in Caixa (snare drum) every other month.

🗓 Thursday 25th June
⏰ 7pm - 9pm
📍 The Vale, Vale Mill, Micklehurst Road, Mossley, Greater Manchester, OL5 9JL
🎟 £5 - £12 per session

Book here: https://www.globalgrooves.org/whats-on/caixa-blast-june-2026/