Stuart WoodLondon’s first maker festival, MAKEMORE, came to Victoria Park in east London this past weekend, from 23-27 August.
The event gave independent artists and creators a platform to promote their craftmanship, and an opportunity to run workshops for festival-goers.
Activities included spoon-making with artisan Barn the Spoon, printing, pottery, painting, collage, and more. Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromit, were in attendance to run claymation workshops throughout the festival.
The festival also provided live music and comedy from a main stage and tent, as well as a variety of food and drinks stands around the site.
Access was there on the opening Thursday to have a look around, and turned up early enough to be served the first beer of the festival.
We also got a chance to enjoy live music from three groups playing in The Barn: The Little Unsaid provided an energetic set, while Bristol-based Young Waters performed a quieter, acoustic set of songs. Swedish acapella folk group Akervinda impressed all the more for having to contend with a rather loud tuba which was patrolling the festival grounds.
Live comedy in the Polka Theatre came from a line-up including Brodi Snook, Nicolas Ricci, and Kevin O’Connell. Shappi Khorsandi and Simon Brodkin (Lee Nelson) were among those scheduled to perform later in the weekend.
In total, there were more than 100 different artists and creators of all varieties at MAKEMORE.
Festival co-founder James Cartwright said: “MAKEMORE is a festival like no other. In a world of more and more devices, screens and online interactions, we want to enable people to reconnect with the physical world around them. It’s only by breaking down all this physical stuff that we’re surrounded by, and learning how it’s made, that we can feel empowered to go out and create our own.
“This is an event where members of the public could get stuck in to a range of truly unique experiences, from bee-keeping to weaving, and we’ve combined that hands-on aspect with live music and great entertainment.”