A weekend dedicated to making, music and merriment will be held at Harewood House this July with Aardman Animations the first announcement for the festival-style event that will feature demonstrations, workshops, street food, pop-up bars and live DJ sets.

Make It Harewood launches on 6 & 7 July 2019 in collaboration with Hole & Corner as part of the Harewood Biennial and its current first exhibition, Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters and takes place in and around the Harewood Courtyard featuring a full programme of workshops and demonstrations, DJs and live music, a craft market, plus local food and drinks.

With over forty events across the weekend, visitors can pick from a selection of free drop-in sessions, alongside paid for experiences. They can observe, dabble and delve into an engaging programme of events and activities encompassing the many different sides of craft and presented by some of the world’s leading designer-makers and artisans. Whether throwing pottery, carving spoons or sculpting with paper, there will be something for all interests from intimate workshops to family sessions.

Comments Jane Marriott, Director, Harewood House Trust; “We’re extremely excited to be launching a new festival here at Harewood, which continues our exploration around the subject of Craft and its role in society today. As part of our focus to attract the best quality talent to Harewood for our visitors to enjoy, we couldn’t be more delighted to be working with Hole & Corner, who have been successfully creating amazing experiences at events such as Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall since 2015.

“Make It Harewood will offer a new perspective to all our visitors, with after-hours bars and live DJ sets, in addition to a wealth of talented artists and performers. As a charity, we are dependent on our Members and visitors; this vibrant new approach offers a great new platform to engage with Harewood and celebrate our unique craft heritage and why it matters to society today.”

Sam Walton, Creative Director, Hole & Corner; “We’re very excited to be heading to Harewood this July. This year marks the sixth year of Hole & Corner and over that time we’ve written about and collaborated with some brilliantly talented people. For Make It Harewood we’ve invited some of our favourite makers to join us in delivering what we feel will be a really special weekend of activity.

As well as opportunities to get involved with making, we promise a relaxed and enjoyable weekend with great food and drink, good music and a fun atmosphere.”

On Saturday 6 July, the House and gardens will remain open until 9pm, with live DJs and evening entertainment and pop-up bar in The Courtyard. A craft market also runs across the whole weekend.

Confirmed makers for workshops include:

– Aardman Studio (Model-making)
– Andy Singleton (Paper art)
– Claire Wellesley Smith (Stitching)
– Lola Lely (Natural dying)
– Leszek Sikon (Blacksmithing)
– Pottery West (Ceramics)
– Reiko Kaneko (Kintsugi)
– Smith Automata (Do Nothing Machines)
– Sunken Studio (Ceramics)
– Anna Casserly (Spoon Carving)

Make It will take place annually for the next three years, creating a weekend experience which focuses on creativity, craftsmanship, heritage and authenticity and which is fresh and different to anything else on offer in Yorkshire.

For further information follow @HarewoodHouse on social media and see biennial.harewood.org