World class events on offer this August Craft Month

With only two weeks left to go, make sure to catch some of the exciting events taking place across Northern Ireland this August Craft Month before you miss out.

Celebrating the vibrant local craft scene, a wealth of exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops have been taking place across Northern Ireland giving people the chance to support local makers by buying products and learning more about their work.

With a total of over 400 events on offer across the across the country this August, here is just a taste of some of the events still to take place.

County Antrim: Embellished Linen Purse Workshop, Lagan Valley Island 1 The Island, Lambeg North BT27 4RL, Saturday 31st of August 10:30am – 1pm. Price: £60

Fashion Designer Annie Leona makes beautifully intricate purses using vintage Irish linen, sumptuous satins, and decorated with threads and beading. To make your own purse, Annie will guide you, from sketching a design to layering your fabrics and applying embellishments. With linen, satin, threads and beads from Annie’s own studio, your hand embroidered design will be unique to you and can be personalised, perhaps to suit a special occasion. This workshop coincides with Annie Leona’s exhibition ‘LORE’ which runs from the 3rd – 31st August.

Invisible illness, visible stories, through Embroidery art – An exhibition by Sandra Streeter, Midtown Makers, 51-53 Church Street, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, BT43 6DD, Thursday 1st-Sat 31st of August: Monday – Friday 9.30am-4.30pm , Saturday 10am-4pm. Price: FREE

Sandra Streeter is an embroidery textile artist exploring what it means to live with invisible illness. Her creative practice includes a diverse range of mediums, painting, stitching, upcycling, printmaking. Her process is an alchemy of paint, textures and fibres interwoven with intuitive interventions. Her work is a ritual, it is an experience of letting go, a catharsis.

This body of work sets personal moments of her life exploring humanity and the efforts to express the complex experience with pain, grief, trauma, and the intrinsic vulnerability of living in a body which gets sick after physical exertion or stress. This work is a visceral response to the catastrophic changes happening to her body, mental health and expresses a need to connect with other people suffering from an invisible, painful, health condition.

County Armagh: Carrickmacross Lace Summer School: 3-Dimensional Snowdrop, Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre: Market Street Armagh, Co Armagh, BT61 7AT, Wed 21 Aug at 10am – Fri 23rd at 3pm, Price: £80

Award-winning designer and lace maker Theresa Kelly is delighted to present this new lace workshop based around the pretty snowdrop. During this three-day workshop you will be covering most of the traditional Carrickmacross Lace techniques of couching, guipure, loops etc. Theresa will guide you through the making of this original flower design. Suitable for beginner and intermediate lace makers.

Ciara Campbell ‘Echoes’ Exhibition, 4 William Street, Portadown, BT62 3NX, Sat 3rd – Sat 31st August. Price: FREE

Come along to Millennium Court to see Ciara Campell’s new exhibition, ‘Echoes’, on display from Friday 2nd – 31st August.

In this exhibition, Ciara invites you to embark on a journey through the landscapes of Northern Ireland, were every piece tells a story of resilience, beauty, and the enduring power of the natural world. Through her work, she hopes to inspire a deeper appreciation for the fleeting moments of beauty that surround us, and the timeless rhythms of the earth.

County Down: Summer Wreath Workshop, 2-6 Irish Street, Downpatrick, BT30 6BP 2-6 Irish Street, Downpatrick, BT30 6BP, Tue 20 Aug at 1-3:30pm. Price: £24

Add a touch of summer into your home by joining us to enjoy this fun and informative workshop.

Participants will be provided with all materials needed to create a beautiful wreath or table centre piece. Choose from a variety of artificial flowers and foliage and add seasonal embellishments using wire.

The Creative Peninsula Exhibition, North Down Museum, Castle Park, Bangor, BT20 4BT, Tue 30 Jul at 10am– Sun 22nd Sep at 4pm. Price: FREE

This exhibition features unique pieces of Creative Peninsula art and craftwork specially selected for display in North Down Museum.

Creative Peninsula is Northern Ireland’s premier celebration of Art and Craft. This thriving annual event features workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and much more, all taking place throughout the beautiful and picturesque Ards and North Down Borough. It is a celebration of the exclusivity and quality of the artwork produced by local artists and craftspeople and a fantastic opportunity to purchase a beautiful piece of art.

County Fermanagh: Buttermarket self-guided tour, The Buttermarket, Down Street, Enniskillen, BT74 7DU, Throughout August. Price: Free

Located in the heart of Enniskillen, The Buttermarket consists of early 19th century buildings which have been beautifully restored, and now house diverse crafts such as pottery, handmade jewellery, textiles and more.

Visitors will enjoy a pleasant and relaxing day out walking around the 16 studios, galleries and shops and stopping for refreshments at the Coffee Shop of the Buttermarket Courtyard. Here they can purchase some beautiful craft products made in Fermanagh such as pottery by Ann McNulty or jewellery by Angela Kelly.

The Buttermarket became a unique addition to Enniskillen town almost 30 years ago, when an early 19th century dairy market was restored, and new life was injected into the cobbles in the form of a quaint, picturesque Craft Centre.

Pottery Tours at Belleek Visitor Centre, Belleek Group Ltd, 3 Main Street Belleek, Enniskillen BT93 3FY, Monday to Friday throughout August. Price: £6-£8

This 30-minute guided tour allows visitors full access behind the scenes of the manufacturing and creative process that goes into every piece of Belleek fine china, produced on site since 1857. Your tour begins with the ‘ringing of the bell’; you will then visit the museum of artefacts, a collection of Belleek pieces from the very beginning in 1857.

Your dedicated guide will then walk you through the factory, where you will see first-hand the 16 steps that goes into every piece of Belleek. Our craftspeople will demonstrate moulding, flowering, painting and basket weaving.

County Londonderry: Causeway Speciality Market, Causeway Speciality Market Coleraine Town Hall 35 The Diamond Coleraine BT52 1DP, Sat 24 Aug at 9am – 4pm. Price: FREE

Located around the Coleraine Town Hall – a magnificent 150-year old sandstone building in the Diamond area of the town centre – the Causeway Speciality Market provides a wide range of high quality, locally produced arts, crafts and gourmet food products.

For over 17 years the Causeway Speciality Market has attracted large visitor numbers from all over Northern Ireland to Coleraine. Shoppers can enjoy browsing arts and crafts whether for that unique gift or a treat for yourself as the traders at the Causeway Market provide a superb selection of quality crafts including handmade jewellery, textile crafts, ceramics, painted glassware, polished wood-turned products and more including gourmet food.

The Causeway Speciality Market is held on the second & fourth Saturday of every month from 9.00am to 4.00pm.

Natural Dyeing with Foraged Materials – Janey Moffatt, Flowerfield Arts Centre, 185 Coleraine Road, Portstewart, BT55 7HU, Tue 27 Aug at 10:30 am - Wed 28 Aug at 1pm. Price: £35

Discover natural dye sources like nettles, madder, logwood and kitchen sink materials, modifiers and techniques using Irish linen. A fascinating two-part workshop with your items soaked overnight for spectacular results.

Textile artist Janey Moffatt, originally from Coleraine, will present her exhibition ‘All Us Women’ at Flowerfield 7 September – 26 October. Before her exhibition opens, we are welcoming Janey for a short residency at Flowerfield when she will lead a series of textile workshops.

County Tyrone: Camphill Community Clanabogan: ‘Just Us’ Exhibition, Strule Arts Centre, Townhall Square, Omagh, Thu 1 Aug at 9:30am - Sat 31 Aug at 5:30pm. Price: Free

Camphill Community Clanabogan, is holding an exhibition in the Strule Arts centre in Omagh for the month of August. Camphill Community Clanabogan is a shared living community for adults with learning disabilities and care and support needs, where people live and work together, each person contributing meaningfully to the community in which they live. There is a strong creative impulse within Camphill and to this end there are 4 creative workshops, the Weavery, Wood Workshop, Art workshop and Pottery. This exhibition features work from a diverse range of artists and creators within the Community, using a variety of media and traditional craft.

Each piece of work will ably represents its creator, the personality of each person imprinted on their piece. Within this variety of work there is a common binding theme, that is of belonging, of being part of, of being ‘Just Us’. For within every one of us there is a creative being, an artistic force. Art connects us all, regardless of perceived abilities; art and creativity binds us, challenges us, broadens and develops us. But most of all it connects us.

The exhibition is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday.

lay With Clay – Summer Seaside, Strule Arts Centre Townhall Square Omagh Co. Tyrone BT78 1BL, Sat 24 Aug at 10am – 12pm. Price: £20

Come along and play with clay! For ages 6 – 14yrs

Using air dry clay, children will have summer seaside as a theme to work on their own dreamy seaside clay work.

Techniques will be shown on how to build with clay with plenty of ideas to work off. All work will be decorated using coloured clay slips and can be taken home on the day.

From underwater sea creatures to boats and sunsets, a lovely imaginative workshop that will have the creative juices flowing.

Kids can also take turns making a pot on the wheel!

Craft NI and Design & Crafts Council Ireland have come together to deliver this important initiative.

For the first time ever, you can use the August Craft Month interactive map on the augustcraftmonth.org website to find the closest events happening in your local community.

For the full island-wide programme, visit www.augustcraftmonth.org. Share your own craft adventures by tagging @augustcraftmonth24 and use the hashtags #augustcraftmonth2024 #makeseebuy

For more information, and to get a feel for the craft events near you and across Ireland, visit www.augustcraftmonth.org.