The Marches Makers Festival 2021 will be taking place in Kington over the August bank holiday weekend.

The festival, which celebrates the work of artists and craftspeople, returns from Saturday, August 28 to Monday, August 30, having been cancelled last year due to the coronavirus. It will be held in various venues across the town.

The event’s main exhibition, featuring miniature artworks by 70 local artists, will be held at the town’s Baptist church and will also be available to view online.

Further exhibitions include sculpture at Hergest Croft Gardens and ECHO in the Oxford Arms, showing original art and craft works made by people living with disabilities in Herefordshire.

As well as exhibitions, there will be live events, including live demonstrations of woodturning, hand forged steel and printmaking.

In addition, the About Face Theatre will perform at the Burton Hotel with their show ‘Creation’, billed as “weaving ancient stories of greed, fear and redemption with music, narrative and magic.”

The festival will also be holding the Christine Forrester Award in honour of their founder and patron who passed away in 2019. The winner of this award will receive a £200 cash prize.

As part of the festival, several local artists will be holding open studios. These include ceramics, weaving, sculpture and traditional clog making. Hands-on workshops will also be available, offering ceramics, rush baskets and willow animal sculpture, among other things.

The workshops and theatre performances can be booked in advance online through the festival website, which will also post Covid-19 updates when necessary.