Common Walls Festival

In 2025, Hayley Garner (AYLO) brought Common Walls Festival to Rochdale, Greater Manchester — an ambitious artist-led street art festival created with the aim of bringing world-class mural art into the town while doing things differently from the ground up.

Having spent years travelling internationally as one half of Nomad Clan, painting murals across the world and working within large public art festivals, AYLO wanted to create a project that genuinely prioritised artists, storytelling, and long-term cultural impact. Common Walls was built by artists who actively work within the street art scene, rather than by outside agencies trying to replicate it. Every part of the festival was shaped through an understanding of what artists actually need to create meaningful work and what communities deserve from public art.

Delivered through The Butterfly Effected CIC alongside a passionate team of creatives, producers, volunteers, and local partners, the festival transformed Rochdale town centre into an open-air gallery filled with large-scale murals, installations, live painting, and public activity.

The first edition brought together internationally recognised artists including Christian Fenn (SECA), SMUG, Onur, Insane 51, EPOD, Jamie Buckley, and a number of emerging and local artists. Over the course of the festival, 10 large-scale permanent murals and multiple smaller works were created across the town, each rooted in themes connected to identity, heritage, community, and place.

What made Common Walls different was the way the community became part of the process. Rather than simply arriving and painting walls, the festival included workshops, conversations, assemblies, youth engagement, artist talks, live demonstrations, BMX and skate events, tours, and public participation activities. Schools, charities, local residents, and community groups were invited to share stories, memories, ideas, and perspectives about Rochdale, helping shape the direction of the artwork in a way that felt authentic without compromising artistic freedom.

The response to the festival exceeded expectations. Across the main weekend alone, Common Walls attracted an estimated 18,000 visitors into Rochdale town centre, generating huge footfall, media attention, and online reach. The invited artists collectively brought an online audience of over one million followers, helping place Rochdale firmly on the international street art map and introducing new audiences to the town.

Beyond the murals themselves, the festival became part of a wider conversation around culture, regeneration, and what artist-led projects can achieve when they are trusted to lead from within. The success of Common Walls later saw the project recognised nationally, winning the Activation: Events category at the 2026 Pineapple Awards for its contribution to place, culture, and community impact.

For AYLO, Common Walls was never simply about painting walls. It was about creating something with depth, integrity, and lasting impact. A project that proved world-class public art can thrive outside major cities, that artists can successfully lead large-scale cultural initiatives, and that mural festivals can become far more than decoration, acting instead as catalysts for pride, conversation, connection, and change.