Shaping the City’s Centenary Story

The year-long programme will use culture as a catalyst for pride, inclusion and transformation – a moment for Salford to look back with gratitude and forward with confidence.

A City That Never Stands Still

Salford 100 promises to be bold, participatory and unmistakably local – a celebration reaching from neighbourhood streets to world-class stages.

Working with creative producers Walk the Plank and From the Other, the programme will blend grassroots energy with large-scale spectacle: projection-mapped parades, digital storytelling, street parties, and new commissions that showcase Salford’s creative spirit.

As the city positions itself for Greater Manchester Town of Culture and a future UNESCO Creative City designation, Salford 2026 will demonstrate how culture drives regeneration, visibility and connection.

What We’ll Be Doing

At The Evaluator, we’re leading on the evaluation framework for Salford 100 — capturing the full story from community-led birthday celebrations to major commissions such as We Invented the Weekend, Light Up the City, and Songs of Salford.

• Co-creating a Theory of Change so partners share one clear vision of success.
• Designing a deceptively simple evaluation toolkit supported by digital dashboards and accessible templates.
• Capturing numbers and nuance — attendance, reach and spend alongside stories of pride and connection.

We’ll also pilot our Measure the Experience approach at key events — playful, on-the-ground data collection tools that make evaluation part of the celebration itself.

Why It Matters

Culture sits at the heart of Salford’s story — from the docks to MediaCity, from brass bands to spoken word.

• Evidence pride in place and connection across generations.
• Track economic uplift from events and local commissions.
• Highlight legacy potential — partnerships, skills and confidence enduring beyond 2026.
• Celebrate the people who make Salford distinctive.

Having previously worked on We Invented the Weekend and the Salford Place Partnership Fund, we understand the city’s creativity, humour and honesty — and it’s a privilege to help measure and share that energy in such a milestone year.