Merry Christmas A Review of 2017
Written: 18 December 2017
It’s been quite a year. The Contemporary Craft Festival is heading into its 15th year and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support.
At the end of November, we were thrilled to be awarded Gold for Festival of the Year 2017, for the 3rd time We have entered the awards 3 times and it’s the 3rd time we have won Gold. Obviously, this a reflection of the truly exceptional makers that we represent and the jaw-dropping array of craft activities, workshops, children’s activities and entertainments that make the Craft Festival such an award worthy event. We’d like to offer a deep bow to all the makers, workshop leaders, sponsors, street food suppliers, contractors, volunteers, cleaners, traffic marshals, cake makers, security officers, musicians, actors, maintenance crew, bus drivers, tractor drivers, land owners, puppeteers, story tellers, Town, District & County Councillors and the people of Bovey Tracey.
THANK YOU!
We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate this year’s award winners once more.
Congrats to Ambrose Vevers, Best Maker in the South West, Tanti Design, Best Stand, Archana Pathak, Best New Business, Rhian Malin, Best Ceramics Award, Katie Lowe, Byre Gallery Showcase Award, Caroline Finlay, Tony Piper Memorial Award, Brett Payne, Craft & Design award
Meet The Team:
Our team got a little bigger earlier this year. Nina, Kate & I were joined by Fran Moorhouse. We have worked with Fran for a number of years in her role as Event and Marketing assistant at Mercedes Benz, who sponsored the Festival for a number of years. We were delighted when Fran joined our team, bringing her extremely positive and professional approach to working on sponsorship, press and marketing.
Nina Fox, has been our Project Manager for 12 years. She manages many of the logistical elements of the Festival including sorting out parking suspensions, traffic management, site planning and ensuring all the stands fit into the marquees! Nina also puts the selection day together with the hundreds of applications that arrive each year. She also has the unenviable job of issuing invoices! Nina is the linchpin of the organisation and we would basically be lost without her.
Kate Martin is our Financial Manager. You might know Kate from her many years at The Devon Guild. She has moved on from the Guild and we’ve managed to hang onto her for a day a week. Kate keeps us out of trouble, paying VAT, sorting out wages, paying Tax and National Insurance. She’s a total rock and someone we turn to if you want a sensible solution to a range of issues.
That leaves me, Sarah James, Festival Director. I’ve worked on the Festival since October 2003, which was the same month I moved to Bovey Tracey. I do a variety of things and am generally the public face of the Festival. I plan the marketing campaigns, meet and build relationships with sponsors, book the music and all entertainers, curate the education programme and trade stands, recruit & train volunteers, lecture to students and makers at Preparing to Sell around the country, meet with all the various organisations and local landowners and I try to keep everyone happy!
We’re a non-profit making company, which means that we budget to break even and if we have any money left over, we give away to charity and plan to do more the following year. I’m very proud of what we have achieved and since The Craft Festival began, we now run Made by Hand, Cardiff in November, Nourish Festival in Bovey in September and Made by Hand, Cheltenham in March. Which, you will be pleased to hear, keeps me out of trouble.
We regularly give to Bovey Tracey Youth Café and have recently supported Bovey Paradiso, a new project aiming to bring a new cinema and arts centre to Bovey Tracey.
We are also introducing a new annual fund that local charities can apply for. If your charity or project is based in Bovey Tracey or Heathfield we will want to hear from you. We will announce more details in January.
Need a gift for the person that has everything? Give them tickets to the Craft Festival!
CLICK HERE to buy Tickets to our multi-award winning festival
Merry Christmas from Sarah, Nina, Kate and Nina