A tough year
Good Festival is the biggest party of the year - and 2017 didn’t disappoint.
More than 11,000 revellers attended the two day Feel Good Festival in August, headlined by Razorlight.
A packed bill included two days of live music on the main stage outside the town hall, while the festival food village saw some of the region’s best street food traders serving up dishes from around the globe.
Coun Janet Emsley hailed the success of the festival, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary, saying she had ‘never seen the town centre as busy.’
She added: “Rochdale has a lot to be proud of and over the last decade we have created a nationally recognised event that is the envy of many towns.”
●●FOTHERGILL and Harvey cricket team’s clubhouse in
Littleborough was burnt down in a suspected race hate attack on Bonfire Night - but what happened next showed the true face of Rochdale.
It came a week after a break-in was discovered at the remote club, which saw about £10,000 of damage caused and vile racist graffiti sprayed on the walls.
But following the two incidents the club, which is made up predominantly of Asian players, say they were overwhelmed by the support from the community.
First-team player and committee member Kamran Afzal, 34, said: “The people who carried out the attack do not represent Littleborough.
“Littleborough is a lovely place with lovely people and the support they have showed us since this happened has been unbelievable.
“It was very sad that the clubhouse was burnt down and we still cannot understand why it happened, but at the same time it’s been a blessing in disguise.
“It’s really brought the community together.
“None of our players live in Littleborough, we come from other parts of Rochdale, but now we really feel like a part of the community.” ●●‘INSPIRATIONAL’ youth worker Yasin Khan dedicated his life to helping troubled youngsters.
Following the 47-yearold’s shock death from lung cancer last month more than 3,000 people attended his funeral prayers at the Bilal mosque.
There were so many mourners in attendance hundreds were forced to listen to the service on speakers outside.
The father-of-three, from Shawclough, worked with teenagers and young people in Rochdale for 18 years - helping to transform hundreds of lives.
Yasin’s brother Salim, 49, said: “We had people from different backgrounds, different faiths and different ages at the funeral.
“It was a beautiful sendoff and it was a great comfort to the family to see so many people there.” ●●THE Rushbearing Festival was Littleborough’s biggest community event of the year.
But so were Norden and Milnrow carnivals, Wardle’s village fete, or any other number of traditional get-togethers in the borough’s towns and villages for their communities. Often run by tireless volunteers purely for the benefit of an area they love, nothing sums up the incredible community spirit of Rochdale better. ●●Kamran Afzal at the Fothergill & Harvey Cricket Club in Littleborough after the clubhouse was burnt down in an arson attack