Hello Make & Menders – It is the Culture Vulture!
For 2021, I’m a creative champion and cultural adventure of the North – basically, I have the pleasure of championing wonderful spaces, places, faces and happenings across the region. Amazingly brilliant things – just like Make & Mend Festival 2021.
The imagineers behind the festival and Make & Mend Company, Rachel & Lyndsey have invited me to champion Make & Mend Festival 2021 far and wider and I’m super excited to be doing just that. Part of that championing is going to be a little 2021 blog series, so buckle in and keep reading!
I am so happy Make & Mend Festival 2021 is back….it was rubbish, that it couldn’t go ahead last year. This brilliant day full of creativity, craft, positivity and coming together within a vibrant festival atmosphere is really needed right now! It’s the shot of Serotonin that we all need before we head into Autumn/Winter.
Make & Mend Festival is happening on 12th September, 10am-5pm at Ormesby Hall! This unmissable festival of colour, craft and positivity is set to bring together brilliant makers, crafters and creatives to celebrate and share their love for all things creative. Workshops, artists, demos, creative drop ins, colourful social spaces, yoga, makers market, exhibition, installations, yummy food and so much more!
For this little blog takeover series, I thought I’d start with a little interview with Rachel – one of the co-founders of Make & Mend Festival and all round brilliant human! So, let’s do it – I sat down with Rachel last week at Make & Mend’s brand new office space and got the festival low down.
Hi Rachel, I promise this is the only time that I mention the P word, but I have to….what have you been up to across the pandemic and since Make & Mend Festival 2019?
Well for Make & Mend Company, the first lockdown was a pretty busy time with online orders for our embroidery kits; everyone was keen to learn a new skill back then! Make & Mend had to move into my house for a few months, so it was a bit intense to say the least. We realised pretty quickly that Make & Mend Festival in 2020 just wasn’t going to be possible, so we put all of our efforts into planning for a bumper 2021, as well as running some online embroidery workshops which was a great way to connect with people during the lockdown.
What are you most excited about for Make & Mend Festival?
This year’s festival is really two years in the making and we are so excited to be able to bring people together in actual real life! It feels like SO LONG since our last event and although we have kept busy with online workshops, it just doesn’t come close to a festival event in person. We have really missed the festival atmosphere and transforming a space for the day, to give people a relaxing colourful day out of the house!
Make & Mend Festival has a brand new home; National Trust’s Ormesby Hall! Why did you pick there and what can visitors expect?
Ormesby Hall is that perfect combination of quirky indoor spaces and beautiful gardens all set in such a peaceful location; considering it is in the middle of a town as soon as you turn down the long drive all you can see are fields and you feel as though you are out in the countryside. You can feel how loved it is from the minute you arrive with their brilliant team of staff and volunteers, plus we have exclusive use of the house and gardens for the day on 12th September, which is just brilliant for us and festival goers!
This year’s festival programme is bigger than ever – it’s a creative and crafters dream! How did you come up with the 2021 festival programme?
We wanted a mix of artist favourites from previous years as well as some brand new crafts for visitors to try. We are always looking out for new makers and new crafts; Instagram is a great place to find people and we have a wishlist of makers we keep adding to! So we went straight to that list and luckily most of the artists and maker were able to make it. We always want visitors to be able to experience something new, no matter now many times they have attended the festival before and I think this year, that is true more than ever as there is such variety! We also have a new crafty social area where people can drop by with their half finished projects to sit relax and spend time with our brilliant expert maker Clare from Hello Hooray.
Describe the Make & Mend Festival 2021 programme in 3 words?
Colourful, relaxing, crafty!
Tickets are on sale now and – with a great response so far! For those that haven’t taken the plunge, why should they come to this year’s festival?
They can expect a day full of making and wellbeing in a colourful festival atmosphere! We love that everyone can plan out their own day; some people just do one workshop and enjoy the drop in activities and just relaxing in the beautiful surroundings, eating lovely food and doing a bit of shopping! Other visitors have a packed day going from one workshop to another barely stopping for food! And that the beauty of the festival – it is YOUR day. It’s also great way to re-connect with friends (and new festival friends!) finally after a such a long time; it’s a great way to come together, take time out of hectic lives and just relax and get making.
And this year, the creativity for all ticket holders continues at all with our Make & Mend Online Festival Experience – 11th September – 18th September - a week of colour and creativity, celebrating crafting and making as good for the soul and kind for the mind with live zoom workshops, pre-recorded activities, tutorials, patterns and makes to download and a virtual marketplace!
Now for a BIG question, why is creativity important to you?
I realised a few years ago when life got a bit difficult, that being creative is what makes me happy and helps me through those more anxiety filled stressful times. Sharing the positive benefits of being creative is really at the heart of Make & Mend and that is really important to me; anyone can be creative and so many people come back to it later in life and feel the joy it brings, just to make something with your hands. And it doesn’t matter what it looks like in the end, its just enjoying the process, there is no right or wrong just your own expression. We forget to play the older we get and I think creativity is a great way to get in touch with that playful side we all have.
Thank you Rachel!
And this year’s Make & Mend Festival 2021 sounds like just that! A full day of colour, making and PLAY!
So why not join me? I will be there….lurking, making and most definitely playing! Make & Mend Festival is happening at NT Ormesby Hall on 12th September, 10am-5pm and tickets are available to purchase now; Full day, half day and digital only ticket available.
For full festival programme CLICK HERE and tickets visit CLICK HERE.