The National Festival of Making is returning to Blackburn next month.
The festival is an annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship, uniting makers, artists, designers, and enthusiasts to showcase their talents and share their passion with the community.
The Festival of Making Community Interest Company (CIC) has grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2017, with the Festival weekend attracting audiences of more than 30,000.
And with more than 30 announced events and more to come, this year's fifth anniversary promises a bustling weekend in Blackburn, featuring family-friendly workshops and events that blend art, manufacturing, and making.
A significant strand of the festival is 'Art in Manufacturing', a competitive headline commissioning programme that facilitates five artist residencies with top UK manufacturers, resulting in new work on show for the first time at the festival.
This includes: Multidisciplinary artist Ibukun Baldwin and state-of-the-art trouser and outerwear manufacturers Cookson & Clegg, part of Patrick Grant’s Community Clothing offer based in Shadsworth, who together have created a large-scale immersive installation transforming waste denim into a work of art.
Visitors can also enjoy an exhibition of animated confectionery boxes, recreating the wonder of opening a box of chocolates, brought to the festival through a partnership between Illuminos and Blackburn’s The Cardboard Box Company.
Other highlights include:
- Mughal Miniatures: Animal Paradise. Live performances by Sonia Sabri Company featuring song, dance and puppetry.
- Pendle Pottery Studio are offering a taster session on a pottery wheel and teaching people how to create their own handcrafted bowl or cups
- Plant It Up. An installation of UpPlant’s vertical farming – visitors can get involved and learn about the process.
- Relics Plastics will be running a sustainable workshop where people can turn plastic waste into a brand-new keychain
- Volo: Dreams of flight a VR experience by Studio Go Go which combines VR with swings and fairground rides.
The festival will take place on the weekend of July 8 and 9 at various locations across Blackburn town centre.
The Festival of Making is led by directors and co-founders Lauren Zawadzki and Elena Jackson and co-founder Wayne Hemingway,
It is free to attend and is a unique celebration of making and manufacturing – from the kitchen table to the factory floor.
Councillor Phil Riley, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Blackburn with Darwen is a real hot bed of culture and creativity.
“The National Festival of Making is a big deal and we’re incredibly proud to host it here in our borough and play an integral part as strategic partner too.
“The Festival celebrates the unique making heritage of our borough, creating a distinctive sense of place while boosting our town’s tourism profile and supporting local businesses – it’s fantastic.”
To see the full programme of events visit the Festival of Making website.
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