MAKEMORE festival: Victoria Park’s new craft festival
This year, the new MAKEMORE festival, a makers and crafts festival, is taking place in East London’s Victoria Park.
18 months in the making, MAKEMORE is the first festival of its kind in the UK and wants to give a platform to artisans who have no other place to showcase their work in such an interactive way. With a maximum daily capacity of 4000 people, this festival will be an intimate way for the public to understand more about the lives of artisans.
Taking place over the August bank holiday, the West, rather than East end of Victoria Park will play host to the visitors, allowing the East side to be free for sun-loving park-goers.
John Wilkie, Opera Director and Creative Director of MAKEMORE explains, ‘There is nothing really like it in the UK, and we wanted to give people a chance to see behind the scenes and feel what it is like to be part of a makers’ community.’
MAKEMORE will celebrate creativity in all forms, and each day will have a roster of different workshops, lessons, talks and interactive experiences.
Guests can purchase day tickets, which will give them access to most of the festival, but for some workshops and other supplementary events, specific tickets will need to be purchased.
The evenings will see performances from a variety of musicians, including folk, classical and jazz musicians, and all parts of the festival, including the music, are family friendly. Alongside the music in the evenings, there will be ‘supper clubs’, which will cater to a range of different tastes. Wilkie explains, ‘There will of course be drinking and some partying, but it has been incredibly important to us to make sure every aspect of the festival is welcoming to kids, adults and teenagers alike.’
Wilkie says ‘We want people to see makers in their natural habitat. It’s a festival for people who want to get their hands dirty and get involved, as well as for those who want to try nice food and buy beautiful artisanal products.’
Bethnal Green local Barn the Spoon, spoon-carving extraordinaire will be teaching people how to carve spoons, while Hoxton ceramicists Turning Earth will be bringing 6 tonnes of clay to the festival and holding pottery workshops throughout the weekend.
Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed at the festival this year, but Wilkie says, ‘Hopefully, in the future, we can welcome furry friends alongside our regular guests.’
For more information about the specifics of the festival, head to our event page and to buy tickets, head to the MAKEMORE website.
MAKEMORE festival will take place from Thursday 23 – Monday 27 August in Victoria Park.