The National Festival of Making

Earlier this month I popped over to Blackburn for the brilliant National Festival of Making taking place in the city. Craft stalls, historical industries, music, art - all intertwining with Blackburn's vibrant people and culture over one beautiful weekend.

The festival conference ran from 27th April to 5th May, with its main public events taking place on the Saturday and Sunday afterwards. Earlier in the week I was invited to attend an intimate round-table event hosted by Creative Lancashire and featuring Jane Foster, Dave Kirkwood and Hamish Muir of Muir McNeil to discuss all things making and creative industries.

It's always inspiring to break out of the studio and mingle with other creative people, so it was such a treat to not only meet so many fantastic attendees, but to get the time to chat with the speakers about their practices. I particularly loved Jane's bold, gorgeous illustrations and homeware (and I'm oh-so-jealous of her amazing looking outside studio with a bright yellow door!). 

Over the weekend, I ate street-food, made music, bought some treats from the maker's market, and wandered the streets constantly surprised by the exciting little workshops and performances that seemed to be down every single street in Blackburn! I managed to pop into a local comic shop to make the most of Free Comic Book Day as well, and picked up Boom Studios' 2017 Summer Blast and a Betty & Veronica comic - nice!

Make sure you keep an eye out for next year's festival, I definitely recommend grabbing the chance to attend some of the workshops and events!