Mossley Market Ground will be transformed into an open-air gallery of colour, creativity, and community spirit as 100 towering silk flags take flight during the monthly farmers market.
Each flag is a unique artwork, hand-painted and standing between three and six metres tall. Together they create over 540 square metres of art – the equivalent of half a kilometre if laid end to end, enough to rise higher than Blackpool Tower.
These flags have been years in the making. From school workshops to care homes, from neighbourhood projects to artist studios, hundreds of people across Greater Manchester – of all ages, cultures, and traditions – have shared their voices, memories, and hopes to create them. Side by side, their stories are woven into the fabric of every design.
Across history, flags have marked identity and belonging. In this exhibition, they mark something greater: resilience, unity, and shared pride. This is a movement that welcomes, not excludes – showing what can be achieved when communities come together to listen, share, and create.
And here in Mossley, that story runs deeper still. The town was once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, its mills powering a textile trade that carried designs and fabrics from Greater Manchester to communities across the world. Textiles here have always been about connection, creativity, and exchange across cultures. Flags of Hope continues that legacy, returning textile artistry to the town where it once shaped identity and industry, and reimagining it as a living symbol of community pride and collaboration.
The Flags of Hope Exhibition is presented by Global Grooves and Cabasa CIC, two Mossley-based organisations dedicated to bringing people together through art and celebration. It has been made possible by the dedication of many volunteers including those from Mossley Town Council, The Vale, and local artists – whose energy and commitment have helped bring this vision to life.
We invite you to explore the farmers market, stand among the flags, reflect, and celebrate the pride and creativity that unites our communities.
Mossley Market Ground
Sunday 31st August
9am – 5pm
These are not just flags.
They are memories.
They are voices.
They are hope.
Get involved
This is the first Flags of Hope Exhibition. With your support, we can take this movement further – creating more exhibitions across Greater Manchester, sharing more voices, and raising more flags of resilience, unity, and pride. Together, we can keep building spaces where creativity brings communities together.
If you’d like to volunteer to help create more Flags of Hope in the future, visit: the-vale.co.uk/volunteer-with-us
If you would like to make a donation to help take this exhibition to more people across Greater Manchester, you can donate here
About Cabasa CIC
Cabasa CIC is a Mossley-based community interest company that mixes traditional textile craft with powerful storytelling. They celebrate heritage whilst pushing boundaries, creating work that’s large-scale, visually stunning, and deeply meaningful. Everything they do is rooted in community and collaboration.
About Global Grooves
Global Grooves is a Mossley-based cultural organisation using music, dance, and carnival arts to inspire and strengthen communities. Their work brings together diverse voices locally, nationally, and internationally to create powerful, inclusive celebrations.