Blackburn town centre was turned into a weekend-long showcase of creativity as the National Festival of Making returned with art, live performance, film, workshops and some unusual headline acts.
Planning a night out? See the live What’s On in Blackburn calendar.
The festival featured critically acclaimed artists and makers, celebrity comedian and ceramicist Johnny Vegas, and a Bhangra dancing robot, with activity spread across cultural venues, empty shops and back-yard spaces — even puppet making in a pub.
Among the main draws were the Art in Manufacturing commissions, which pair artists with local industry and partners to create new work. This year’s projects included bread-making mixed with bronze, prototypes for poured-earth homes, a billiard table wrapped in aluminium inspired by a story of uniting the classes, and electronic music scores created using car engine frequencies.
Other commissions included a new installation exploring British Asian identity, futurism and family archives, plus a collection of new vases featuring Northern sayings, created in a studio shed replicated in Blackburn Museum.
Live performances ran across King William Street, Cathedral Square and beyond, with crowds dancing, clapping and cheering despite the rain. Acts included Bollywood dancing, a tribute to ladies’ football, a street-party busking stage, and Punjabi Roots with a special guest appearance from Blackburn College’s own robot.
Making workshops ranged from mask making and banner making to printing, woodworking and heritage crafts, with visitors also able to create Wallace and Gromit characters alongside the team from Aardman.
The festival’s film programme, run in partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and the University of Lancashire, included screenings, talks and public auditions for a new Blackburn-based film, The Cotton Kings. It closed with a screening of Rave Culture: A New Era, a feature-length documentary by Eduardo Cubillo Blasco.
Rosy Greenlees, the new chair of the National Festival of Making, said: “The National Festival of Making is about curiosity, creativity and fun and this year’s festival has been even bigger and even better.
“It’s once again brought thousands of people together over a weekend packed with exhibitions, live performances, hands-on workshops, film screenings, makers markets, street food and more.
“It’s a celebration of making in all its forms, transforming Blackburn’s streets and iconic spaces with free activities while bringing profile and economic impact to the town – reminding us of its proud heritage and its continuing significance as a centre of creativity and innovation.
“I’d like to thank every single person involved, especially the festival team, led by Lauren Zawadzki and Elena Jackson, and the dedicated volunteers who have once again made it a huge success.”
Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said the event grew out of discussions in 2016 and 2017, when more people were employed in manufacturing in Blackburn with Darwen than anywhere else in the country.
He said the aim was to give people living and working in the borough “a real sense of pride” and celebrate its industrial heritage while looking to a future with a strong cultural offer.
He added that the event had become “everything we could have ever wished for and so much more”, and said Jen Cleary, Director of Combined Arts and North at Arts Council England, had described Blackburn with Darwen as “leading the way” with its cultural ambitions.
The council says more than 40% of visitors travel from outside Blackburn with Darwen, with one visitor posting on Facebook that they were coming from New Zealand. Studies also show the festival contributes almost £2m to Blackburn town centre.
Venues used over the weekend included Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Prism Contemporary, The Making Rooms, Blackburn Library, Blakey Moor Terrace and Blackburn Cathedral, alongside a Maker’s Market on Church Street and street food stalls.
The Art in Manufacturing commissions paired Abigail Hampsey with Bronzecast, JJ Sandham LTD and Artisan Food Producers; Alina Akbar with Awesome GTI & Performance M; Matter at hand with Darwen Terracotta; and Penelope Payne with Haworth Art Gallery.
Two further festival commissions were also featured: Ben Hall’s Practise Makes Pigeons, delivered in partnership with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, and Hetain Patel: We Are Alloys.
The festival, now close to its 10th year, has grown from a small idea into a major fixture in Blackburn’s cultural calendar. At a special opening at The Exchange, Alastair Murdoch said that during the first festival the former cinema building was in such a poor state that only 20 people could be allowed inside at one time, all wearing hard hats.
The space has now reopened following the completion of a new entrance as part of a £10m restoration project led by Re:Ignite Church and supported by council and government funding.
More information about Art in Manufacturing is available on the festival’s website, festivalofmaking.co.uk.
