Events 2023
- All
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- Bookable Workshops
- Community
- Digital
- Early Years
- Experience
- Family Friendly
- Fashion
- Film
- Food and Drink
- Heritage skills
- Markets
- Music and Performance
- Skills Advisory
- STEAM
- Talks
- Workshops
- Saturday
- Sunday
Download your FREE Art in Manufacturing Programme
Download your Art in Manufacturing Programme to learn more about each residency with a complete guide on artist talks and exhibition information.
Download your FREE Festival Programme
Download your Festival Programme! This is your essential guide to everything happening over the weekend, complete with a handy map to help you navigate to each venue.
Mughal Miniatures: Animal Paradise by Sonia Sabri Company
- Saturday: 11:45am
- Saturday: 1:00pm
- Saturday: 3:30pm
Taking inspiration from the exquisite traditional art of Indian and Persian miniature painting, this performance is perfect for the whole family. Performers in sumptuous costumes create vibrant and colourful mini worlds of dance, music and puppetry.
- Music and Performance
- Cathedral Square
Art in Manufacturing: Artists Talks
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Meet the Art in Manufacturing commissioned artists and hear a short talk, each hosted by National Festival of Making Chair, Jamie Holman and Board Member Claire Mander.
- Art in Manufacturing
- Talks
- Various Venues
Print Market curated by Liverpool Print Fair
- Saturday: All Day
This year the National Festival of Making is partnering with Liverpool Print Fair to bring you our first Print Fair: a curated art market with handmade and original prints by independent artists.
- Art
- Markets
- Blackburn Cathedral
Volo: dreams of flight
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Climb aboard a playground swing, don a VR headset and take flight in one of four Leonardo da Vinci virtual flying machines. Don’t miss out on Studio Go Go’s thrilling VR Swing adventures.
- Digital
- Experience
- Family Friendly
- Cathedral Gardens
Fantastical Fairground Embroidery
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Taking inspiration from the glorious tents of Mughal India, artist Saima Kaur will be inviting you to her hand stitched ‘Fantastical Fairground’ tent. Join her on the festival weekend to view the artwork and add your own creations to the ever growing artwork.
- Art
- Community
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Gardens
Plant it UP
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Be sure to visit this living and growing installation from UpPlant – a multi sensory and educational exhibit to showcase vertical farming, hydroponics and aquaponics. Learn about how it works and even how you could do something similar at home.
- Experience
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- King William Street
Art in Manufacturing: Wave Sweeper, Sapien (AKA Steve Anwar) + SWS UK
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Inspired by folkloric stories unearthed during his residency with SWS UK – manufacturer of garage doors, roller shutters and retractable gates with a proximity to the River Lune – Art in Manufacturing artist Sapien AKA Steve Anwar has created a new steel sculpture.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- Blackburn Cathedral
Funny Faces with Let’s Make Art
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Make your own fantastical face and wear it out and about on the streets of Blackburn!
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- 59 King William Street
Keith Brymer Jones: In Conversation with Patrick Grant
- Saturday: 3:00pm
Keith Brymer Jones returns to the National Festival of Making, in conversation with judge of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant.
- Talks
- Blackburn Cathedral
Colourful Fabric Flags with Shiny Productions
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Design your own flag and use heat transfer techniques to create a beautiful and bold fabric flag. Perfect for family groups and young people!
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
Taste Lancashire Market
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
The Taste Lancashire Market is brought to you by Marketing Lancashire, part of their national and international Taste Lancashire activity to champion Lancashire’s superb food and drink.
- Food and Drink
- Markets
- King William Street
Talkaoke
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Have something to say? Want your voice to be heard? Join The People Speak at a pop-up talk show like no other.
- Community
- Family Friendly
- Talks
- Cathedral Gardens
Build a Yo-Yo Machine with The Interaction Research Studio
- Saturday: All Day
This handmade device allows you to communicate with another person by trading signals across the internet, all on a handcrafted dial. Assemble the electronic components and decorate a Yo-yo Machine to imagine new interactions.
- Bookable Workshops
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- The Mall
Community Clothing Pop-Up
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Visit the Community Clothing pop-up shop where you can browse the collection of high quality, everyday clothing made in Blackburn and the UK. Don’t be surprised if you bump into Founder of Community Clothing and judge of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant – he’ll be doing Meet and Greets at the shop for much of the weekend.
- Fashion
- Markets
- Cathedral One Building
YESS LAD
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
After a critically acclaimed run during Frieze London 2022, YESS LAD tours to the National Festival of Making.
- Art
- Blackburn Cathedral Annex
Do What Yah Mama Told Yah
- Sunday: 12:00pm
- Sunday: 1:30pm
- Sunday: 2:30pm
A feast of family fusion, across geography and generations! This 30-minute comedy circus show is a vibrant and immersive treat for all ages.
- Music and Performance
- Cathedral Square
Art in Manufacturing: Funufactury, Ibukun Baldwin + Cookson & Clegg
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Prism Contemporary has been transformed into a floor-to-ceiling textile installation during Ibukun Baldwin’s residency with clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- Prism Contemporary
Bookbinding with Ian Halawi
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Join artist Ian Halawi and make your own sketchbook using traditional bookbinding techniques. Book your ticket now.
- Bookable Workshops
- Heritage skills
- Workshops
- The Mall
Art in Manufacturing Season 5
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Presenting a series of new commissions, Art in Manufacturing pairs artists with the North’s leading manufacturers. The incredible outcomes of these residencies are shown in Blackburn each year in the town’s most historic and contemporary venues. Working with an artist influences new ways of doing things – in an already innovative space the opportunity for experiment and inquiry between artist and industry is limitless.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- Talks
- Various Venues
Airstream Stage
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Known as ‘a festival in a can’, head to the airstream stage on Cathedral Square to find a host of DJs sharing good vibes, providing the perfect backdrop to your festival experience.
- Family Friendly
- Music and Performance
- Cathedral Square
Bundle Dyeing Workshop with Emily Gubbay Studio
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Try out this natural dyeing technique using a selection of plants to create unique patterns on fabric.
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- The Mall
Greater Northern Folk Ensemble
- Sunday: 12:45pm
- Sunday: 4:15pm
Catch these performances of folk tune arrangements by a community group with an eclectic mixture of instruments.
- Community
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
Makers Market by Hopeful & Glorious
- Saturday: All Day
The UK’s most exciting independent makers gather at Blackburn Cathedral for The National Festival of Making’s Maker’s Market. Handpicked by expert design and craft curators Hopeful & Glorious.
- Art
- Markets
- Blackburn Cathedral
Eternal Taal
- Sunday: 1:30pm
- Sunday: 3:15pm
Don’t miss this all-female Bhangra dancing and drumming team on Sunday, filling the streets with their interactive fusion performances.
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
CULTURE: COMMUNITY & PLACE
This session will crucially explore the potential of events such as National Festival of Making and the role of all stakeholders in an ecology that is needed to sustain effective interventions and influence system design that embeds support for people and communities, creating opportunities to trial new approaches and innovative ideas at the local level.
- Talks
- Blackburn College
Walking Down the Street Gamelan
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Time to MAKE MORE MUSIC! More Music’s Walking Down the Street Gamelan is a beautiful-sounding collection of recycled instruments for pre-school children aged 0 – 5 and their families.
- Early Years
- Family Friendly
- Music and Performance
- Cathedral Gardens
The Making Rooms: FAB Lab
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
The Making Rooms FAB LAB joins the festival programme once again. Opening their doors to the public for the weekend, expect to find creative workshops set in this technology haven on Exchange Street. There is something for all ages so come along and have a go!
- Digital
- Family Friendly
- Skills Advisory
- STEAM
- Workshops
- The Making Rooms
Art in Manufacturing: I See A Voice, Sam Belinfante + Panaz
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
During the residency, artist Sam Belinfante has investigated Moire patterns and the optical effects induced through the movement of sheer fabrics, to be experienced large scale within a striking physical environment at The Cotton Exchange.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- The Cotton Exchange
Potter’s Wheel ‘Have-a-Go’ with Pendle Pottery Studio
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Have you ever wanted to try your hand at using a potters wheel? Here is the perfect chance to have a go!
- Bookable Workshops
- Family Friendly
- Heritage skills
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Patchwork Planters with Sue Jeffries, Mary Stubbs and Blackburn BID
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Contribute to a growing collection of patches which will be sewn together to create covers and planting pockets for the planters at Blackburn railway station.
- Community
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
STEAM Pavillion with Blackburn College
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
STEAM is everywhere – from the food we eat, to how we travel, to how we live. It is key to producing music, architecture, cosmetics, vehicles – in fact anything! Find out more about the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths at the Festival of Making STEAM Zone, with workshops galore delivered by Blackburn College.
- Digital
- Family Friendly
- Skills Advisory
- STEAM
- Workshops
- King William Street
Howling Roughs
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Jamie Holman has begun working with curators Caroline Wilkinson and Anthea Purkis to start reimagining the Cotton Town gallery, exploring the potential to introduce wider narratives that have previously lacked visibility.
- Art
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Dead White Man textile workshop with Jeremy Hutchison
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Join artist Jeremy Hutchison in this workshop reflecting on the garments that British consumers donate to charity. Contribute to an archive of recycled clothes monsters being exhibited at British Textile Biennial 2023.
- Art
- Workshops
- The Mall
Future Makers Market
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Support the next generation of makers and creatives at our Future Makers Market, hosted by Blackburn BID.
- Markets
- Bus Depot Ainsworth Street
Leather Workshops with Diamond Awl
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Diamond Awl Leather Workshop share their expert craftsmanship in the glorious art of leatherworking with these special taster sessions.
- Bookable Workshops
- Family Friendly
- Heritage skills
- 59 King William Street
Art in Manufacturing: North Light, Stephanie Jefferies and Sarah Marsh + Herbert Parkinson
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Sensory memories of sound, touch and smell have been collected from partners of the factory to delve into the 70-year history of the people that have worked there and will be woven into a playful installation for families to explore together.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- Cathedral Crypt
North Light Installation (Sensory Friendly Session)
- Saturday: 10:00am to 11:00am
- Sunday: 10:00am to 11:00am
Sensory Friendly Session – a playful installation for families to explore together in the stunning surroundings of Blackburn Cathedral Crypt
- Art
- Early Years
- Family Friendly
- Cathedral Crypt
Sun Printing with Cyanotypes
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Join Obscura Darkroom and learn how to make Cyanotypes, one of the oldest photographic printmaking processes dating back to the 1840s! You’ll make your own Blueprints from plants and other materials to take home.
- Family Friendly
- Heritage skills
- Workshops
- King William Street
Pasta Machine Printing with Sam Selley
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Swap the printing press for a pasta machine in this environmentally conscious workshop for all ages.
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
Den Building
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Artist and den-building expert Chris will provide you with all the materials needed to create your own sculptural enclosure. Whether yours is practical, pioneering or pleasing to the eye, it’s time to get hands on and think big!
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- Workshops
- Museum Street
Make Your Own – Turn Plastic Waste into a Keychain!
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Help Relic Plastic take plastic waste destined for landfill and transform it into new and useful items. Learn about their micro-manufacturing process and make your very own recycled plastic keychain to take home.
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- Workshops
- King William Street
People’s Jury x Get It Done x National Festival of Making
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Grab some chalk and add to a growing collection of climate-friendly tips and tricks in this special collaboration between the National Festival of Making, Get It Done and Blackburn with Darwen’s People’s Jury on the Climate Crisis.
- Community
- Workshops
- King William Street
Celebrating Repairs: Sashiko
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Join students and course leads and Blackburn College to explore mending clothing with Sashiko embroidery.
- Fashion
- Workshops
- The Mall
Make a Marigold Flower Garland with Artee Craft
- Saturday: All Day
The marigold flower is one of the auspicious flowers of India. They are often used during festivals for decorations. Since Marigold flowers are not commonly available in UK, ArteeCraft will teach you how to make them out of paper!
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
Create a Subtraction Cut Mini-Dress with UCLan
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Be guided by fashion design staff in the incredibly creative and fast-paced pattern-cutting method called ‘subtraction pattern cutting’. Suitable for beginners and more advanced fashionistas!
- Family Friendly
- Fashion
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone
- Saturday
Whilst visiting the festival, head over to the Youth Zone where you’ll find plenty of family friendly STEM activities from local organisations like IMO Charity, The Making Rooms, Manchester Youth Zone and Inspire Youth Zone.
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- Workshops
- Blackburn Youth Zone
Arabic Calligraphy with Razwan Ul-Haq and QEST
- Sunday: All Day
Experiment with basic Arabic Calligraphy letters with Razwan. Practice your own calligraphy letters using handmade bamboo pens and hand mixed pigment inks.
- Family Friendly
- Heritage skills
- Workshops
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Dirty Faces Cinema
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Passionate about the voices in Northern cinema and beyond, Dirty Faces will be host film screenings in Tony’s Empress Ballroom, showcasing a line-up of the independent films from talented emerging and established filmakers.
Photo by Darren Lee Poole.
- Art
- Music and Performance
- Talks
- Tony's Ballroom
Art in Manufacturing: Peddie’s, Illuminos + Cardboard Box Company
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Experience a moment of wonder and delight in a magical new installation of illuminated chocolate boxes. During their residency with Cardboard Box Company, Illuminos have delved into their own family history, taking inspiration from their Grandfather, Bob Peddie’s confectionery shop window in 1950s Accrington.
- Art
- Art in Manufacturing
- 29 Northgate
Study Local, Go Far
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Come along and meet the photography team from Blackburn University Centre’s highly acclaimed, Photography and Moving Image, degree course. The team will be demonstrating their skills by offering free, individual portraits to members of the public, with an exciting twist that demonstrates the very latest in modern technology.
- Workshops
- The Mall
Northern Dholis
- Saturday: 12:30pm
- Saturday: 2:45pm
Come and experience the Festival Weekend with Northern Dholis – a team of skilled Bhangra Dhol Players who will provide lively and energetic drumming performances.
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
Thingamabobas
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Makers of Imaginary Worlds bring you Thingamabobas! Don’t miss this animatronic and robotic circus of bizarrely wonderful machines created to inspire, delight and intrigue.
- Family Friendly
- STEAM
- The Mall
Art of Papercutting with Maryam Golubeva
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Be inspired by intricate patterns and learn the skill of papercutting! Using manicure scissors in a creative way, have fun creating and taking home your own art project.
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Blackburn University Centre: Art & Design Degree Show
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday
An exhibition of art and design degree work from a selection of Industry Award winning students. The work on show will include fashion and textiles, fine art, photography and design.
- Art
- The Mall
Pewter Casting with Uncultured Creatives and Ella McIntosh
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Inspired by Uncultured Creatives’ research into Blackburn-based cinematographers Mitchell & Kenyon and the world’s first western, filmed in Blackburn, this workshop will give you the chance to cast your own memorial arrowhead in Pewter. Check back soon for more details on how to book.
- Bookable Workshops
- Heritage skills
- Workshops
- Uncultured Creatives Studio
Suco Samba
- Sunday: 12:00pm
- Sunday: 2:30pm
Join the Suco Samba drumming group for some funky beats and good vibes at the National Festival of Making!
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
Me To A Tee Pop-up
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Blackburn staple Me To a Tee will be hosting a pop-up as part of the Dirty Faces Cinema space. Expect to find the best second hand threads from this truly Northern vintage store.
- Fashion
- Markets
- Tony's Ballroom
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery: Open Doors
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery staff open their doors for extended hours with a host of activities that give you deeper insights into the collections kept behind their doors!
- Art
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Bowland Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers
- Saturday: All Day
Visit the Bowland Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers in Blackburn Market, where they will be running demos with the opportunity to have a go yourself.
- Skills Advisory
- Workshops
- Blackburn Market
Giant Collaborative Lino Printing
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Come along and add to a huge collaborative print! During this workshop, printmaker George will teach you the lino printing skills needed to make our big festival print. Be sure to return at 4.15pm to help ink, press and roll and witness the big reveal!
- Community
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- 59 King William Street
Chain Reaction Challenge with Jim Bond
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Test your making, problem solving and communication skills! Using balloons, springs, ping pong balls, hinges, mousetraps and more, can you build a mechanism that keeps the momentum of the chain reaction going?
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Gardens
Hand fan (Pankha) making with Nudrat Alexander Mughal
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Perfect for little ones! Join Nudrat and make a hand fan out of paper, wooden sticks, and trimmings – a take on the traditional hand fans (traditionally known as ‘Pankha’ – a hand fan used in summer) used in South Asia.
- Early Years
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Gardens
Willow Weaving with Cherry Chung and QEST
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Experience willow weaving with Cherry. Choose between three designs and follow her lead as she guides you through the techniques – perfect for families!
- Family Friendly
- Heritage skills
- Workshops
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Blackburn Festival of Light Band
- Saturday: 11:30am
- Saturday: 1:30pm
The Blackburn Festival of Light Band is back! Catch them on King William Street on Saturday.
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
Explore geometric patterns with Aziza
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Choose a laser cut wooden tile designed by Aziza and fill it with colour using a selection of paint pens. Match the cut-out pieces to the empty slots in your tile to complete your masterpiece, and walk away with your very own piece of art!
- Bookable Workshops
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- 59 King William Street
Crafting connections: imagining and making your Internet of Things with hiCraft
- Sunday: All Day
Use craft and making to imagine what a fantastic Internet of Things could be! By making invisible networks visible we can imagine inventive ways to connect people and things through sensors.
- Bookable Workshops
- STEAM
- Workshops
- The Mall
Blackburn & Darwen Junior Brass Band
- Sunday: 11:00am
Come and enjoy the delightful performances of Blackburn & Darwen Junior Band as they play popular hits from pop, films, and folk music genres.
- Community
- Music and Performance
- King William Street
Street Food
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Fancy a bite to eat? Sample the best and most delicious food with our selection of delectable and irresistible street food stalls!
- Food and Drink
Traditional Indian Kite Making with Artee Craft
- Sunday: All Day
Make a traditional Indian diamond kite with ArteeCraft. An expert artist from the team will lead you through the steps to make a kite with bamboo sticks and paper.
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Cathedral Square
Shared Sounds: Bubbles and Felt, Music and Art for Early Years
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Interactive creative fun for Early Years children 0 – 4yrs and their grownups, brought to you by The Bureau Centre for the Arts Shared Sounds Early Years programme.
- Community
- Early Years
- Music and Performance
- Workshops
- Blackburn Library
Blackburn College: Graduate Fashion Show 2023
- Saturday
On Saturday at 2:00 pm, come see the students’ fashion show at Victoria Court in The Mall showcasing and celebrating womenswear, menswear and gender-fluid collections.
- Fashion
- The Mall
Vocalise Youth Choir
- Saturday: 2:00pm
Enjoy listening to this group of enthusiastic young singers from across Blackburn and Darwen.
- Family Friendly
- Music and Performance
- Cathedral Square
Batik and Button Badges with Chip in
- Saturday: All Day
- Sunday: All Day
Using hand-made Batik fabric, design and make your own badge with Chip in, Blackburn with Darwen’s volunteer network for 16 – 30 year olds.
- Family Friendly
- Workshops
- Blackburn Library
