Blackburn is making way for an award-winning weekend festival to return for its fourth edition.

On Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June the National Festival of Making will get set to deliver their best festival yet, drawing visitors to Blackburn town centre with an array of making workshops, theatre and musical performances, community projects, installations, local food producers and more.

Festival organisers are looking forward to creating opportunities for communities to come together and enjoy shared experiences as the borough moves forward beyond the pandemic.

Crowds of more than 40,000 are expected to flock to Blackburn, bringing a fantastic buzz about the borough and boosting the economy for local businesses.

Due to Covid-19, the festival weekends in 2020 and 2021 were unfortunately unable to go ahead, but during this time, organisers developed a new programme of work to continue bringing creative and cultural experiences to Blackburn with Darwen, including the public poetry project, Of Earth and Sky, in collaboration with Luke Jerram and local poets, and an inflatable installation in Corporation Park, by international makers Architects of Air.

Executive member for leisure and culture at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Cllr Damion Talbot, said: “It’s brilliant to see the dates for the 2022 National Festival of Making announced – what a great way to kick off the year.

“As has been the case for many events throughout the pandemic, the past couple of years has unfortunately seen the cancellation of the Festival – so to welcome it back to Blackburn for a fourth time is absolutely fantastic.

“National Festival of Making creates a massive buzz across our borough, attracting visitors from wide and far, boosting our town’s tourism profile and supporting local businesses.

“Between Darwen Live, Summer Fest, Restricted Rocks, the Queen’s Jubilee and this award-winning Festival, it’s going to be the best summer yet for Blackburn with Darwen.”

The National Festival of Making will continue to develop and deliver a year-round programme alongside the festival weekend, bringing creative opportunities, artist development, and making to audiences.

Festival director, Lauren Zawadzki, said: “After two years of being unable to hold live experiences, the whole festival team is absolutely delighted to be preparing to deliver what will be the fourth, National Festival of Making weekend in June 2022.

“We’ve been working closely with artists, communities and partners throughout the pandemic, making sure we continued to deliver high-quality cultural work however there is nothing more uplifting than live experiences.

"After so long, June is now firmly in our sights and we’ll look forward to spending the festival weekend celebrating making with audiences old and new.”

Follow the up-to-date programme and festival announcements at www.festivalofmaking.co.uk