For further information see the Festival’s website www.festivalofmaking.co.uk
Blackburn Cathedral Square
Vaiven Circo presents: Do Not Disturb
Cathedral Square / Sat and Sun, Start 2pm End 2:50pm. Free
A vibrant, unmissable street performance that brings the ingenuity of making dramatically to life, Do Not Disturb takes festival goers back to the early 20th century, evoking a day’s work in a factory. Performed for the very first time outside London, Spanish circus company, Vaiven Circo Danza, perform this high energy, poetic show, combining dance, acrobatics and physical theatre with contemporary circus tricks on each day of the festival.
BBC Introducing Stage
Cathedral Square / Sat and Sun, Start 3pm End 6pm. Free
Shining a light on the very best undiscovered, unsigned and under the radar music, join presenter Sean McGinty at the BBC Introducing Lancashire stage. Hear the very best of local up and coming musical talent while it’s still raw and unsigned. And remember, you heard it at The National Festival of Making first!
BBC Radio Lancashire Stage
Cathedral Square / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 2pm. Free
A daytime show of Radio Lancashire’s best music, presenters with maker interviews and guest appearances keeping you entertained in the lively food court at Cathedral Square.
The Talbot Exhibition & Talks
Blackburn Cathedral / Sat, Start 11am End 1pm, Start 2pm End 3pm. Free
As part of the National Festival of Making, Blackburn College are offering the unique opportunity to enjoy the one of the UK’s most fascinating collections in the company of experts. Our speakers – including John Harrison, Richard Peregrine and Mary Painter – will guide you through the Talbot Archive, considering the social, political and historical contexts of this landmark portfolio
Cardboard Cinema
Cathedral Crypt / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Part-theatre, part-installation, grab your tickets and popcorn and settle in for a 10 minute showing at The Cardboard Cinema!
Instant Lettering
Blackburn Cathedral South Transept / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
A new exhibition of Letraset based works. Swifty will feature in collaboration with GF Smith at this National Festival of Making premiere. A prolific graphic designer, Swifty’s typography based work has been seen across clothing, skateboards, album covers, flyers, logos and TV Titles such as Peep Show & Smack the Pony. Swifty will also be running a free letraset print badge making workshop on Saturday from 2pm – 4pm.
Blackburn Market
The Making of a South Asian Wedding
Blackburn Market / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Planned as part of the innovative arts project Art In Manufacturing, and continuing themes developed in ‘Front Room Factories’, Bansal aims to cross cultural traditions, time and family generations to recreate the making of a 1980s South Asian wedding in Blackburn town centre.
Cake Decoration with Masterchef’s Moonira Hinglotwala
Blackburn Market / Sat, Start 11am End 1pm, Start 3pm End 5pm. Free
As part of The Making of a South Asian Wedding, Masterchef finalist Moonira Hinglotwala will be holding cake making demonstrations, and decorating cakes with the help of the public.
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street
STEAM Pavilion
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Our ‘Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design and Maths’ Pavilion is packed to the brim with hands-on activities with specialist equipment from the leading educators, apprentice schemes and manufacturers. With several different activities in the STEAM pavilion, you will find lots of free workshops. A charge of £10 applies to the Copper Poppy workshop.
Mantra – The Manufacturing Technology Transporter
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
The 34-ton Manufacturing Technology Transporter (or ‘MANTRA’) arrives at the festival with a world-beating array of technology from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre of Sheffield University. Supported by BAE, the height of innovation is arriving in style and is a festival highlight not to be missed!
The Teenage Market
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. £
A real showcase of creative talent and budding entrepreneurs – you’ll have the chance to pick up the wares of the newest emerging makers and drink in the energy, vibrancy and diversity our young crafters are bringing to the table. Curated by young people for young people and promising a growing roster of traders, this year’s market is also upping the entertainment factor with two artist workshops and a live music station. Take a break from browsing to create something of your own.
Henry Holland Presents: Print Making with Get Set Students
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. £
In 2017 Blackburn College Get Set students worked with British Fashion Designer Henry Holland to create a range of designer iconic t-shirts and mugs as festival merchandise. Get your screen-printed goods from a specially designed pop up stall by Cardboard Box Company.
McNally Music Tuition
Bus Depot; Ainsworth Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Free Guitar & Drum workshops for both adults & children, giving you the chance to showcase your skills or try something new! McNally Music Tuition will also be giving away free 30 minute trial lessons! Drum kits, guitars and expert tuition – jam with your friends, compete in the drummer challenge or play your favourite beats and rifts to passing audiences.
Bus Depot; Church Street
The Urban Arts Experience
Bus Depot; Church Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Make a track, make a move, make a story or make a mix in workshops provided by music industry experts including published author and award-winning poet MC Angel, scratch master DJ Shorty and Mister Lees. Whether learning to lay down your a beat inside their on-board studio, establish some new moves with their breakdancing tutors, or learn what it takes to be a superstar DJ, festival participants can expect an unforgettable experience.
Make- A-Story Workshop with the Young Urban Arts Foundation
Bus Depot; Church Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Work with established spoken-word artist and published author MC Angel to tell your story and make your own poem to share in this workshop. 60 minute session, advanced booking recommended.
Make-A-Track Workshop with the Young Urban Arts Foundation
Bus Depot; Church Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
All aboard the Urban Arts Bus for a masterclass in production from artist Mister Lees. You’ll learn the secrets of the production room as you make your own version of a top established music track and get to grips with state-of-the-art music production equipment. 60 minute session, advanced booking recommended.
Make-A-Mix Workshop with the Young Urban Arts Foundation
Bus Depot; Church Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Take a master class workshop in mixing music, scratching vinyl, rewinds, playing with vocals and much more. Working in a team you will get behind the decks and learn the basics of DJing in this sharp and interactive session with DJ Shorty. 30 minute session, advanced booking recommended.
Make-A-Move Workshop with the Young Urban Arts Foundation
Bus Depot; Church Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Summon your skills and rhythm to bust your moves to the beat! Cook up your own move to bring the team and team up with your friends to learn some classic hip-hop and street dance moves with dancer Felix Somerville. A light-hearted and high-energy workshop for everyone, whether you love to dance or are a total beginner. Find out if you’ve got the skills and rhythm to move to beat! 30 minute session, advanced booking recommended.
The Bureau Centre for the Arts
Waste Less: Taste More
The Bureau Centre for the Arts / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 5pm. Free
We invite you for an extra special cook up – Learn how to get the best from healthy ingredients and cook up taste sensations that won’t break the bank with our sustainability experts Cracking Good Food. Cooking sessions take around 1hr – 1.5hrs. Start times are 11am, 12:30am, 2pm, and 3:30pm. The session and the food you cook are free!
The Bureau Cinema Club
The Bureau Centre of the Arts / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 5pm. Free
The National Festival of Making has built a wealth of engaging making films through commissions and projects which have been curated to show on a loop at the Bureau cinema room. A great place to relax while your little ones join the free cooking session – Less Waste: More Taste.
Community Clothing
Community Clothing T-Shirt Printing & Community Quilt
Community Clothing / Sat and Sun, All Day. £
Community Clothing is teaming up with the festival once again, giving their range of classic, UK-made T-shirts a festival makeover, with a number of exclusive designs to choose from. They will also be presenting the results of last year’s Community Quilt project, where visitors to the festival brought together pieces of their most-sentimental and precious fabrics to be sewn together by artist Jenni Smith to form a warm nostalgic whole. Buy a Community Clothing T-shirt and add a free screen print throughout the festival weekend.
Festival Hub
Supermarché’ Mega Mart
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Join the print department of the supermarché mega mart as they pitch new designs for a prototype confectionery’s new packaging which they are going to use to break the market wide open! The designs are ready but we need your help printing and assembling the products! Through a series of vintage processes including screen printing and flat packaging, create your own sweet box to take away!
Traditional Leatherwork taster sessions with Diamond Awl
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 5pm. £
Leatherwork experts Diamond Awl return to the National Festival of Making with their incredibly popular leather workshop. Over the course of these one-hour sessions you’ll get to grips with professional skills such as the time-honoured saddle stitch to make your own cardholder or keyring. Suitable for beginners.
Alphaknit
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Using traditional techniques on a domestic knitting machine, you can design a unique letter-form in pixels, and then manufacture it as a physical knitting pattern sample to take home.
Pop-Up Factory with the UK Fashion and Textile Association
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
The textiles industry provides hundreds of career paths to industrious and creative makers and this showcase, from the UK Fashion and Textile Association is a chance to broaden your horizons, meet employers and make a textiles product that you can take away, on a range of industrial equipment.
Folding Table
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Folding Table imagines making a paper aeroplane as an industrial craft process. Commissioned for the festival in 2017, this artwork comprises of a specially designed and integrated table with templates, lasts, formers and tools that help you accurately complete each step to building the perfect paper plane. The work explores how we tend to approach making – often thinking that something would be far too complex for us to do ourselves – by breaking it down into smaller steps.
The Bakery
Festival Hub / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
An innovative creative programme that is setting up a digital design and manufacturing studio staffed entirely by young people. It is inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen apprentice programme and Blackburn’s embedded culture and tradition of “creativity, industriousness and graft” that is currently undergoing a new resurgence across the town.
Liz and Lil’s
Cactus Terrarium Workshop with Salvaged Gardens
Liz and Lil’s; 78 King William Street / Sat, Start 11am End 1pm, Start 2pm End 4pm. £
Join Ginny Scholey to create and take home a sophisticated slice of the dessert. You will learn about cacti, their care and maintenance and how to design using a range of materials including natural and coloured sand, stones, shells, seed pods, moss and driftwood. Suitable for beginners.
King Georges Hall
Makers Market by Hopeful and Glorious
King Georges Hall / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 5pm. Free
Hopeful & Glorious will bring together an incredible showcase of over 50 artists, makers and designers who have been selected for the quality and originality of their work. Come and shop hand crafted goods whilst getting to learn about the making processes and the craft skills of makers.
Crafts Council Surgery Sessions
King Georges Hall / Sat, Start 1pm End 4:30pm. Free
Book a 20 minute portfolio advice session with a Crafts Council Talent Development Manager. These free portfolio sessions will be a window of opportunity to seek advice on a burning question about your practice. Come prepared with ready questions and up to 10 images of your work and ideally a sample of your work. Limited availability, book online.
King William Street
Clayground / Remake a Memory
King William Street / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 4:30pm. Sat and Sun 4:30pm-5pm, viewing only. Free
Come and help fashion Blackburn’s biggest ever communal sculpture, capturing memories of your first ever creations. Will you recreate your first ever sandcastle, a mud pie or a family portrait?
Taste Lancashire
King William Street / Sat and Sun, Start 11am End 5pm. £
On the food front, Marketing Lancashire’s Taste Lancashire marquee will play host to many of the county’s most renowned food and drink makers, including Calyx Drinks from Burnley, who create botanical juices and syrups the natural way to give thirsty festival goers an antioxidant, vitamin-rich boost, while treats from makers like Choc Amor, hailing from Mawdsley, satisfy cravings for something sweet. A dash of drama will be added to proceedings by Taste Lancashire’s Food Theatre.
Make It Up
King William Street / Sat, Start 2:30pm End 3pm, Start 4pm End 4:30pm. Free
Music Leaders will work with young people in different community centres across the town in the weeks prior to the event before coming together as a mass ensemble to develop and teach each other their songs, pieces and to tell their stories with performances led by the young musicians themselves. A 25-minute piece that tells a story of life growing up in different diverse communities across Blackburn.
The Blackburn People’s Choir
King William Street / Sat, Start 12pm End 12:30pm. Sun, Start 11:30am End 12pm. Free
A rousing performance from the stars of last years’ Art in Manufacturing commission by Jamie Holman. The choir will be performing an unaccompanied four-part choral performance each day.
Make with the Manufacturer Workshops
King William Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Breathing new life into rare skills and giving factory floor processes a contemporary twist: Make with the Manufacturer is our on-site factory floor, bustling with creativity and craft. Take a seat at the production line and get involved with our range of lively and engaging making activities, whether working with materials by hand, getting busy with specialist implements or even making the tools themselves!
Remember Me
King William Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Add you voice to ‘Remember me,’ in this artist led film piece that took shape at the first Festival of Making. Artist Jamie Holman delivered, recorded and edited clips of almost 500 people over two days at last year’s festival as they implored the camera to “Remember Me.”
Girls Girls Girls
King William Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Join two 2nd year art students Emma and Lydia as they celebrate 100 years of women winning the right to vote. Screenprint a protest sign with empowering quotes and facts about women in Suffragette violet and green.
Blackburn Library
Mandala Memories
Blackburn Library / Sat, All Day. Free
Making and memory are, for Tina Francis, intertwined. In her Saturday workshop you’ll be creating a fantastic piece of stitching using colourful tapestry wools and threads, to create a beautiful mandala pattern. All materials are supplied, including child-friendly blunt needles, and you’re invited to bring along any inherited wool to create a mandala memory to brighten up the future, share your skills and explore the stories of your making ancestors.
Give It A Bash! Pewter Keyring and Pendant Making
Blackburn Library / Sat, Start 10am End 1pm, Start 2pm End 5pm. £
Discover how to use the ancient technique of Pewter Cuttlefish Casting to make your own unique jewellery. Combining unusual materials, our expert Ella McIntosh from Manchester studio This is Pewter will guide you through her processes – including molten metal and traditional jewellery-making tools – to create a one-off pewter pendant or keyring. Suitable for beginners.
Adventures in Goldwork Embroidery
Blackburn Library / Sun, All Day. Free
Learn the ancient technique of goldwork embroidery with artist Hanny Newton in this completely free, walk-in workshop. You will learn how to hand-stitch at home, using goldwork to add another dimension to your embroidery in our all-ages, beginner-friendly workshop. No booking required.
East Lancashire Model Railway Charitable Organisation
Blackburn Library / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
ELMRO present Starline, their single loop model train track in action complete with a handmade village and station. They will be crafting a Polish WW2 Destroyer Grom boat in 1/72nd scale using plasti card and plasti welding at the festival.
The Making Rooms
Launching Your Maker Project On Kickstarter
The Making Rooms / Sat, Start 11:30am End 12:30am. Free
In this one hour talk you’ll learn how to craft a great Kickstarter campaign and the secret to building that all-important community of backers. Registration is essential, early booking is advised.
Kickstarter One-to-One Advice Sessions
The Making Rooms / Sat, Start 1pm End 5pm. Free
Free 20-minute one-to-one sessions with Kickstarter’s Outreach Lead, Heather Corcoran. We’ll talk about your maker project and how Kickstarter can help bring it to life. Come prepared with questions! Registration is essential, early booking is advised.
The Making Rooms are FAB!
The Making Rooms / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Blackburn’s have-a-go technology haven, the Making Rooms, has thrown open its doors for the weekend. Featuring showings from FabLab Collaborations, Making Life Better, Kickstarter sessions and much, much more.
The Mall
Hidden Gems Exhibition Preview & Scarf Styling Workshop
The Mall / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
An exclusive preview of Gawthorpe Hall’s Exhibition and a super-stylish workshop will leave you with new inspiration and skills. Compete with the super-cool Asian fashion bloggers who’ve led the recent explosion of fashionable modesty with our free walk-in head-scarf styling session.
Stitched Pendant Workshop
The Mall / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
UCLan we will be running drop-in workshops all festival weekend in the Mall showing you how to make a unique urban-inspired, hand embroidery pendant, using either Cross Stitch, Running Stitch or Back Stitch onto Perspex. Minimum age 12+.
Kantha Stitch Embroidery
The Mall / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Come along to this free workshop and meet our Kantha specialists, graduates from UCLan who have drawn upon their heritage to create modern interpretations of this age-old technique. This traditional technique is perfect for eco-conscious consumers who would rather re-purpose their old garments and fabrics than throw them away. The art of Kantha originated in rural India and literally means ‘rags’. It’s a traditional method used to make new fabric from worn saris but can be applied to any item of clothing.
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery
Make Your Own Print on the Columbian Press
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Discover this huge 19th Century printing press in the Skills and Labour Gallery. Crank it up and print one of Julia Swarbricks 8 festival theme designs to take home with you!
Get Crafty at Blackburn Museum
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Make like a Victorian, dress up and create your own portraits inspired by the gallery around you in this free walk-in workshop.
Lawrence Leith Musical Instruments
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
A demonstration of selected stages of the making process of handmade keyboard instruments. From designing on paper to fine tuning with a chance to talk about the design concepts involved.
Cotton Town Stories
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Visit Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery and discover a series of specials guests and exhibits who will teach you more about textiles and cotton themed making and manufacture in a town famed for its place in the Industrial Revolution leading the way with its cotton mills.
Art in Manufacturing / Legacy Exhibition
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Relive the best moments of the first season of Art in Manufacturing here with the Art in Manufacturing Legacy Exhibition, featuring pieces from the original project and a series of commissioned films telling the narrative of making, from the kitchen table to the factory floor.
Museum Street
Making Your Way… To Health & Well-Being
Museum Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Make an embroidered lavender bag, friendship bracelet or a bag charm with BwD Adult Learning. Giving is one of the five ways to well-being, make a gift and learn a new skill!
No Waste Workshop for Kids
Museum Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
A series of workshops aimed at your younger ones – come and find 3 creative making workshops that all use found objects and promote the message ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.’ Includes Bottle Cap Workshop, Feed the Birds, Chatterbox Origami and Myerscough College Flower Workshop.
BBC Radio Lancashire
(Uni)CORNUCOPIA(Land) Wild Beasts and Cute Critters Art Work
Radio Lancashire; The Gallery / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Blackburn youth zone art groups (8yrs-13yrs) invite you to an enchanted ark of the imagination. A multi-sensory secret garden of sculptures where mythical creatures and fairground fantasies play hide and seek in a multi-coloured landscape. Come along for a private peep, but remember… You can only see them; if you truly believe in Magic!
Tony’s Ballroom
Rare Souls – Martyn Ware’s Art in Manufacturing Soundscape
Tony’s Ballroom / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
A unique three-dimensional sound composition that reveals the humanity and heritage of manufacturing through the sounds of the factory floor. Every 45 minutes, up to 25 seated visitors at a time will experience the 20-minute soundscape. Spaces are limited so visit the venue to book a time slot for this 30 minute experience.
Various Locations
Craft & Creation Online for Over 50’s
Age Concern Shop / Sat, Start 9am End 5pm. Free
Enabling over 50’s to discover craft and creation online, Age UK Blackburn with Darwen are helping and enabling people to find the best online craft and creative resources. The Age UK One Digital project aims to encourage and enable older people to get the most out of being online.
Amazing Street Food
Cathedral Square, King William Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. £
Whether you’re ordering from a 1969 Citroen Van found in the South of France, a Tuk-Tuk flown in from India or a bona fide garden shed, our food traders are bringing the most adjective-laden fare Blackburn has ever seen. Expect fresh, seasonal, homemade food with vibrant and creative twists.
Real To Reel: The Craft Film Festival
King Georges Hall, Blackburn Cathedral / Sat, All Day, Sun, Start 12pm End 4pm. Free
Produced by the Crafts Council and Crafts magazine, the festival presents another eclectic programme of shorts exploring our relationship with materials and making. Discover documentaries, maker profiles, music videos and hand-crafted animations from around the globe that celebrate craft in all its facets. Played on a reel, you can drop in to watch this as you shop at the Makers Market in King George’s Hall and at the Cathedral.
Fashion at the Festival
King Georges Hall, King William Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
Fantabulous flowers dresses by Myerscough College on the Best in Show Stage, King Williams Street. For delightful designs from Blackburn College check upstairs in King George’s Hall.
Street Performances
King William Street, Town Hall Street / Sat and Sun, All Day. Free
We programme the best in quality street performers with storytelling, theatre and music themed around making, building, innovation and contraptions! Over the weekend look out for various street performers around the area.
Conversations in Creativity
Various Venues across Blackburn / Various dates from Thurs 10th – Mon 21st May. £
Creative Lancashire return with a second year of panel discussions and speakers from the creative industries with Martyn Ware, Swifty and artists from Art in Manufacturing Season 1&2.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, however further changes can occur. We advise you visit www.festivalofmaking.co.uk for more information.
