Norfolk Makers Festival returns with textiles and crafts for all

The Norfolk Makers Festival is returning to The Forum in 2022 offering people the chance to try their hand at weaving, printing, knitting, spinning, embroidery and much more.

The free annual event celebrates the county’s local crafts people, artists and heritage, and will take place from Wednesday 9 March - Sunday 20 March, 10am-4pm each day.

The festival offers the chance to engage and learn with the help of experienced makers, hobbyists, small businesses and organisations whose interests and expertise cover a variety of skills, making it the perfect time to try a new craft or develop existing skills.

The festival is free to enter, and the exhibitions, demonstrations and hands-on activities are free of charge, with material and equipment provided.

As well as learning something new, the festival is an opportunity to showcase some fantastic exhibitions created by makers here in Norfolk.

The Norfolk Makers Festival would not be complete without Margaret Seaman, Norfolk's queen of knitting, award winning textile artist and champion charity fund raiser. On show in St Peter Mancroft, Wednesday 9 – Thursday 17 March, will be her Knitted Sandringham House and a new project, created as a tribute to the real Queen for her platinum jubilee year.

A highlight of this year’s Festival will be ‘Adjustments’, a juried exhibition of work by local textile artists, both professional and amateur. The exhibition of textile work in The Forum’s Gallery features work in many forms including weaving, embroidery and patchwork. All the works have been made since January 2021 by artists living in Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire.

Strung across the inside of The Forum will be dozens of dusters stitched with red thread proclaiming a multitude of opinions, stories, protest and memories as part of Vanessa Marr’s ‘Women and Domesticity’ exhibition. Vanessa selected the traditional dusters as a metaphor for domesticity because they are mundane (like most domestic tasks), yet visually appealing in their brilliant bright yellow.

A team of knitters and stitchers will be busy yarnbombing a mammoth will the help of the public who can crochet a flower to add to the multicoloured mammoth, which will go one display as part of Break’s GoGoDiscover 2022 trail this summer in partnership with Wild in Art.

The Forum Trust, the educational charity which runs The Forum, funds the festival. The Trust’s Events and Partnerships Manager, Jayne Evans, said: “This is a unique, free event which is all about inspiration and encouragement. We make sure there is a wide range of creative activities, demonstrations and exhibitions to enjoy every day. Everyone is welcome, whatever your experience. It’s a wonderful opportunity to discover new ideas, new friends and the creative you!” 

Norfolk Makers Festival features a programme of different free events each day, with the full list at www.norfolkmakersfestival.co.uk.