MORE than 100,000 people attended 300 performances and 30 exhibitions held as part of an arts and culture festival which ran alongside this year's Commonwealth Games.

The Cultureshock festival began in March and more than 50,000 people paid to watch performances which took place across the North-west. About the same number attended the variety of free events, which included exhibitions and outdoor spectaculars.

Venues included Bolton, where the town centre's Art Gallery and Museum staged a successful "Our Commonwealth" exhibition. Other events took place throughout Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Events were also linked to communities from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas and Oceana. Cultureshock will now be commemorated in a special publication and exhibition entitled "after. shock.", due to be launched at Manchester's Zion Arts Centre on Friday, November 1.