Young Creatives Capture Darnhill Festival Through New Eyes

One of the highlights of the Darnhill Festival for the past four years has been the involvement of the Young Producers — a group of young people from the Darnhill Estate who take the lead on producing a distinct programme for the festival at The Yard youth centre. The group works with Cartwheel Arts and Rochdale Youth Service throughout the year to develop content for the festival. 

For 2026’s Darnhill Festival, our commitment to supporting young people’s creative development saw us partner with Pinc College and Rochdale Sixth Form College, through a placement brokered by Rochdale Borough Council, giving students hands-on insight into a photography/video brief via a day of shadowing and work experience.

Students from both colleges took on the assignment of photographing the festival, working to a professional brief, just as an established photographer would, covering the shots we needed and how we wanted the final files delivered. 

We were thrilled with the resulting photographs, and with the group’s reflections on the day: 

“It was a really nice festival — even after the volunteering was done, we stayed behind to watch some of the performances. Some of the poetry sounded really good.” 

“Very creative, felt like a really nice community.” — Marissa 

“It was nice and interesting filming the festival, and the music at the end (full band) was really enjoyable.” — Gabby 

“Everyone was really kind and very friendly. It was really fun using a camera to film the festival, because I’ve never used a camera like that before.” — Olivia 

Mentored by a professional, the group was led by Jake Ruding, an experienced photographer and filmmaker, who ensured they got the most out of the experience: 

“I appreciated that they were given the freedom and responsibility to tackle the day as if they were professional photographers and videographers on a shoot. When I first started out, I had no real-world experience — I taught myself everything from scratch, and my first few jobs were incredibly scary and daunting. I made a lot of mistakes and didn’t feel competent. I would have greatly benefited from hands-on experience like this earlier on — it’s a safe space to learn and make mistakes, without the high stakes of contracts and fees.” 

“Hopefully, this experience gives the young people not only a stronger practical understanding of how to use a camera and how a freelance photographer or videographer operates, but also a greater sense of their own artistic passions and creative process.” 

An alien’s-eye view of the festival 

Alongside the photography brief, the group created a mockumentary in response to this year’s festival theme, One People, One Planet. One student took on the role of an alien, dressed in a striking blue costume, who quickly became a talking point of the festival — meeting audiences (and the Mayor) and appearing in countless selfies.

The group toured the festival site documenting it through the alien’s eyes, exploring how this new world compared to their own. 

Jake reflected on the shoot: 

“It worked really well in terms of letting each student work in a way that suited them — some wanted to work solo, so we gave them the freedom to shoot cutaway and b-roll footage, while others wanted to shoot the main documentary, so we worked as a team to get that filmed. I’m looking forward to editing it — when we reviewed the footage, everyone had clearly had a lovely time and seemed just as excited to see the finished product.” 

The film now enters the editing process over the coming weeks. We can’t wait to see it! 

With thanks to: students Ayaan, Ethan, Evon, Gabriella, Marissa, Olivia, Rylee and Jake Ruding (photographer/videographer), together with Tina Hogarth, Work Placement Coordinator (Creative Industries), Economic Affairs, Rochdale Borough Council.