The Contemporary Craft Festival, Bovey Tracey

Guest Blog Post - The Contemporary Craft Festival

Multi award winning year for The Contemporary Craft Festival
Come and visit Bovey Tracey June 5-7th

It’s been a terrific year for The Craft Festival, having picked up 2 Gold awards in Devon and Silver for South West Tourism Event of the Year.  We were up against events that were mostly urban, very large and organised with considerable backing from the local authority. We work really hard each year to ensure our visitors are inspired and well looked after, pulling  together a large event that is appreciated by 10,000 people each year. We are unbelievably proud to be recognised as Tourism Event of the Year. It’s probably little known that the Festival is organised entirely by myself and Nina Fox, amongst other events that we organise throughout the year. We also organise Nourish Festival in Bovey and Made by Hand, Cardiff. It’s a full on job!

My pride and joy in my working life, is the Craft Festival in Bovey, having started it from scratch back in 2003, my son was just born and my daughter was only 3. It seems a lifetime away, and look how much the Festival has grown!

The Festival, this year is more packed than ever  and is one of the UK’s largest and much loved craft events, welcoming over 200 diverse and talented makers of contemporary craft to Devon. The makers include award-winning silversmiths, potters, furniture makers, textile artists, print & paper artists, glassmakers and jewellers.

There’s loads for families to do too, with the much loved Children’s Craft Tent, Punch and Judy and play area. You can also get stuck in with activities programme brimming with workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, craft curiosities, street theatre, festival food and live music. New features for 2015 include the Plymouth College of Art Tipi, with hands on craft activities and Festival Photobooth. Leading online marketplace madebyhandonline.com will present some of its collection in the stunning surroundings of one of Devon’s Barrel Top Wagons, handmade vehicles.

Curiovan is a mobile gallery and museum showcasing the natural world and art inspired by it. ONE HUT FULL is a multi-sensory experience presented in a beautifully made shepherds hut. One Hut Full immerses visitors in the work of hill farming on Dartmoor.

The Festival is also dedicated to encouraging new makers into the market. One Year On is a selection of exciting, emerging makers who are in their first year of business.

Hothouse is a partnership between the Festival and The Crafts Council, presenting a selection of makers from the Hothouse programme. Hothouse is a free programme of professional support for craft makers, delivered by the Crafts Council.

It is so important that towns, like Bovey Tracey, that struggle to compete with larger towns and cities in the region, receive recognition. Craft brings a distinctive quality whilst being something that everyone can enjoy. The Festival has become an integral part of the Town, and we regularly fund The Bovey Youth Café and I became a trustee a couple of years ago to help raise funds, it’s been a inspiring opportunity for me to support a vital service for Bovey. 

To book workshops and for further details about the Festival, please head to
www.craftsatboveytracey.co.uk