A Review of a Very Good Year
Written: 18 December 2018
A Review of a Very Good Year
2018 has been an exceptional year for Craft Festival & Made by Hand Events.
February:
We started the year in excellent style by receiving the highly coveted South West Excellence Awards Gold for Festival of the Year for our Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey. On the same evening, we also received the ultimate reward of Winner of Winners out of all 137 businesses across the South West for our commitment to excellence, people, partnerships, local provenance, education and to constant improvement and development. It was a great achievement for our team who work throughout the year creating memorable experiences and putting British, independent, craft businesses at the heart of everything we do. We live and breathe our motto: For Craft, Not for Profit.
March:
We also launched, Made by Hand, Cheltenham for the first time at the Town Hall in March. It couldn’t have gone better. A very appreciative audience flocked to meet 100 exceptional makers in the stunning Victorian venue. We are delighted that we will be returning to Cheltenham from March 8-10 next year.
June: Craft Festival, Bovey Tracey
How can we sum up what happened?
OK... let's start with some numbers...thousands of you visited, just over 10,000, our biggest crowd of craft loving people ever.
Pots were thrown, craft was bought, watched films, award winning food was eaten, you made friends with inspirational people, practised yoga, carved spoons, made jewellery, challenged our Throwdowners, created magical worlds, designed stickers for your skateboards, listened to music, bought some more craft, talked and talked, bashed metal, made so many great things, shared and created everlasting memories. It was powerful. Seriously powerful.
Never in our wildest dreams, 15 years ago, when we started our events, would we have imagined how digitised our lives would become and how our virtual lives would dominate our reality. But we also believe that's one of the reasons why events has thrived. We don't spurn technology, not a bit of it, we've embraced social media and represent the latest digital making techniques but it's the In Real Life opportunity to meet and buy from the living and breathing makers is our most powerful asset. Without The Makers, we are nothing. Applications for StartUP closes on January 25th 2019. CLICK HERE to apply.
September: Nourish Festival, Bovey Tracey
You might not have heard of Nourish Festival or realise that this is one of the events we organise. It’s a great little event that fills the streets of Bovey Tracey with amazing food and drink producers from across the region. We throw in some quality craft and seriously inspiring music making Nourish a fabulous mix that brings 3000 visitors to Bovey Tracey. We work with The CheeseShed in Bovey, who deliver the amazing music concerts and the weekend is an explosion of tasty treats. We’ll be opening applications for Nourish in January.
November: Made by Hand, Cardiff
Made by Hand in Cardiff's beautiful City Hall, is the largest and finest contemporary craft event in Wales and we’re immensely proud of it. 150 makers and over 3000 happy visitors gathered in the heart of the capital to meet the makers, watch craft demonstrations and take part in a great variety of workshops. We will be opening application for Made by Hand, Cardiff 2019 in February.
We have a simple mission: To make craft important. Not in a showy offy, aren't-we-clever sort of way. But to make it part of your everyday life, whether you make for fun or for a living, whether you buy it or admire it for its skill and beauty. I know it sounds a bit IKEAish, but we want it to be your Every Day.
December: Moved into New Offices
We’re bringing the year to an end, by finally finding new offices. We had been looking for over 2 years but we are now safely ensconced at Kach Business Park in Bovey Tracey. We’re particularly delighted that the word Pottery is now officially in our address! (We’re on Pottery Road).
New Year:
The New Year is looking very busy already. We’re very much looking forward to the 2nd Edition of Made by Hand, Cheltenham in March (CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS), Preparing to Sell in Plymouth in February (CLICK HERE TO BOOK) and a major re-brand of everything and launching our new website too. Craft Never Rests.
There are so many people to thank. Our amazing makers, visitors, performers, support staff, teachers, volunteers, sponsors, contractors, suppliers and supporters. Thank you all so much.
From all of here at Made by Hand Events, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Peaceful New Year.
Best wishes, Sarah, Nina, Kate and Fran
For Craft, Not for Profit.