2025 Festival Dates: 5 & 6 July

Advocates

Andrew Graham learned Graham and Brown from the bottom up, starting his 25-year association with the company in the sales office before working up to CEO in 2006. He is passionate about developing a high performance, open and collaborative culture that allows all colleagues to excel. A philosophy that has developed the company into one of the UK’s most fashionable and respected wallpaper producers. Alongside his work in industry, Andrew is a keen supporter of regeneration in Blackburn and was one of the founders of Blackburn Youth Zone, a world-class charity that helps inspire, develop and motivate young people.

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Christine Cort co-founded the biennial Manchester International Festival (MIF) and has held roles including Communications Director and Associate Director. In 2015, Christine was awarded the Inspirational Woman Award for commitment to the arts. After five festivals, MIF is now widely regarded as one of the most successful festivals in the world and its reputation for staging world premieres brings visitors from over 50 countries to Manchester. It is the only festival staging entirely new work and special events. Previous commissions have included Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth, Damon Albarn’s ‘Monkey’ and The XX ‘In Residence’. Much of MIF’s work is now touring the world.

Patrick Grant is a fashion designer, social entrepreneur and is regularly seen on television and radio as a commentator on the British fashion, clothing and textile industries. He has been a contributor to several major television documentaries, but is best known for his role in the BBC2 Series The Great British Sewing Bee, for which he was nominated for a 2017 National Television Award. In May 2015 he was awarded the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund for his work on menswear brand E. Tautz, which he re-launched in 2009. In 2015 he purchased the ailing Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. This was followed in 2016 with the launch of social enterprise Community Clothing. He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including GQ, The Financial Times and The Times. His book ‘Original Man’ was published by Gestalten in 2014.

Wayne Hemingway MBE is a founding member of the Festival of Making CIC and was key in propelling the festival through its first successful year. A proud Lancashire chap, Wayne built up the global fashion brand Red or Dead in his hometown of Blackburn before selling the company to found the award-winning HemingwayDesign and going on to make such a splash in housing regeneration, urban design and cultural events. Alongside being recognised as Doctor of Design by several universities he has sat on the Trustee Board at the Design Council and currently supports the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan as a Design Advocate.

Laurie Peake is currently Director of the Creative People and Places Programme Super Slow Way. Their aim is to involve the people who live along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal corridor in Pennine Lancashire in arts and cultural activity. Laurie was part of the small team that established Tate Liverpool in the 1980s which saw culture kick-start the city’s regeneration and has been Director of Projects and Programmes at Liverpool Biennial where she delivered major commissions with artists in public spaces across Merseyside, notable for their deep social engagement and transformative effects in the area.

Funders

Sponsors

Trusts & Foundations

The National Festival Of Making Delivery Team

National Festival of Making is supported by the Arts Council England, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Brian Mercer Trust and Foundations and Partners. This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

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