Prism is an ambitious festival in Sale Town Centre - a series of high-impact events that use digital arts and ground-breaking technology in innovative, creative ways.
Fusing music, projection, light and performance this three-day festival across the town centre creates magical and thought-provoking experiences for all ages, centring around Sale's cultural heart and leading arts hub, Waterside.
Prism 26 will take place Thu 19 - Sat 21 Nov '26.
The inaugural Prism Festival in 2023 was a triumphant success - a new and ambitious winter festival, powered by Waterside Arts, that lit up Sale town centre. At the centre of the activities was a Winter Light Trail - an array of originally designed light installations positioned throughout the town.
Alongside it, Sentinel took place every night of the Festival – a compelling free, outdoor show and multi-sensory performance of electronic music using light and projections across the Waterside building. Indoors, Surge 360 wowed audiences - an immersive dance piece where artist Tom Dale brought to life a duet between dancer and an animated light.
Prism returned for a second year in 2024 with another stunning programme of music and light events. The Light Trail made a welcome return, from Waterside to Sale town centre. Taking centre stage was the Waterside-commissioned Nocturnal Monologues - an open-air, multiscreen, cinematic experience set to a live synthwave soundtrack of ethereal, 80s-inspired songs by Minute Taker.
The indoor theatre became an immersive space for audiences with SURGE VR, a virtual reality version of Tom Dale’s dance performance SURGE, while families could enjoy Let’s Glo UV Family Silent Disco.
The third edition in 2025 further expanded Prism's creative ambitions with two major new commissions. By day, audiences could explore The Garden by Mary Tallontire, an immersive exhibition and interactive digital world created in collaboration with Young Identity Trafford. By night, the space transformed into Bloom After Dark, a club-inspired experience curated by Night People, combining choreography, digital visuals and a live DJ soundscape by Atalaya.
Alongside these headline commissions, audiences discovered large-scale public artworks including Happy as the Day is Long by Stella Creates, as well as family-friendly events and participatory experiences across Waterside and Sale town centre. The festival continued to attract new audiences, with 15% of attendees visiting Waterside for the first time.
For information on sponsorship opportunities for PRISM 2025, or other events/ creative activities, please contact [email protected]
If you have attended one of the events at Prism Festival, please take a few minutes to tell us what you think by filling in our survey.
Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and will help develop future programmes.