Annika Edge, Principle Cultural Development Manager

Posted on 11 Aug 2025

Annika works to strengthen the borough’s cultural and creative sector, by building partnerships, attracting investment, supporting local creatives, and ensuring high-quality arts and culture are accessible to everyone.                   

Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m originally from Germany but have lived and worked in several countries, including France, Scotland, and New Zealand. My background is in arts, culture, and events, having studied European Media Culture in Germany and France, followed by a Master’s in International Events and Festival Management at Edinburgh Napier University.

Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about creating opportunities in the cultural sector. I’ve managed a theatre festival in Manchester, launched initiatives for young theatre makers, and worked in outdoor arts and festivals for Without Walls, the UK’s largest outdoor arts consortium. I’ve also run my own company, delivering community events and pop-up experiences in local spaces, everything from outdoor cinemas on car park roofs to monthly markets.

What is your role at the RDA?
I’m the Principal Cultural Development Manager, working in the Culture and Placemaking team. My focus is on strengthening Rochdale’s cultural and creative sector by developing partnerships, attracting investment, and ensuring high quality arts and culture are accessible to everyone. This means supporting local creatives, sharing funding opportunities, and helping cultural businesses establish themselves in Rochdale. It’s about making sure arts and culture play a key role in shaping the town’s identity and enhancing the borough as a place to live, work, and visit.

Why did you choose to work with the RDA?
Before joining the RDA, I was already aware of Rochdale’s cultural festivals and creative initiatives, having worked with some of the local partners. I was drawn to the borough’s openness to trying new approaches and saw huge potential for growth in its cultural sector.

What excited me most about the RDA was the opportunity to work in placemaking and town development from a cultural perspective. Unlike traditional arts organisations, the RDA integrates arts and culture into economic growth, regeneration, and place identity, which I found fascinating. It’s a chance to shape strategy at an early stage and see how creativity can influence the wider development of a place.

What projects do you work on?

A large part of my role is about building partnerships and creating opportunities. Some key projects include:
• The Rochdale Cultural Compact – A framework for collaboration across the local cultural sector, ensuring creative organisations work together rather than compete for funding and opportunities.

• Rochdale Creates – The creative sector’s new brand and online platform designed to give local creatives visibility, share opportunities, and strengthen the borough’s creative network.

• Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture 2025/26 – Rochdale was awarded this title, and I played a key role in securing it. Now, I’m working with partners to deliver a year-long cultural programme, including international commissions from Manchester International Festival.

• Local Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP) – being the main contact point for our LCEP manager, supporting them to ensure all young people in Rochdale have access to arts education and career pathways, connecting them with opportunities in the creative industries.

What do you really enjoy about your profession?
I love the variety of my work and the ability to turn ideas into reality. Working in arts and culture allows me to connect with people from all walks of life and see how creativity impacts communities. It’s rewarding to know that the projects I help develop are not only enriching people’s lives but also building skills, confidence, and opportunities, not just for future artists, but for anyone benefiting from the transferable skills that engagement with arts and culture provides.

What makes you get up in the morning?
Aside from my four-year-old son, it’s the people I work with and the positive change we can make. There’s a lot of negativity in the world, so being able to contribute to something meaningful, whether that’s helping a local artist find funding, bringing a major cultural event to Rochdale, or creating pride in the borough, is what motivates me. I believe in the power of arts and culture to shape identities, strengthen communities, and inspire future generations.

Tell us something people don’t know about you
I own four chickens, which explains why I sometimes turn up to work with a box of eggs! I’m also fluent in three languages and, in my younger years, my first paid job was singing in Hamburg’s National Opera as part of the youth choir.

Annika’s work is instrumental in shaping Rochdale’s cultural landscape, ensuring arts and creativity remain at the heart of the borough’s growth and regeneration. Keep an eye out for the exciting projects ahead as Rochdale steps into the spotlight as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture 2025/26.