The National Festival of Making is back in Blackburn this July 2026

BLACKBURN, UK — Blackburn town centre will once again transform into a large-scale open-air celebration of creativity as the National Festival of Making returns on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July 2026, running from 11:00am to 5:00pm each day. 

The free, town-wide festival brings together contemporary art, making, performance, and community-led workshops across multiple venues throughout the town centre.

Spanning streets, public spaces, and cultural venues, the festival offers an expansive programme of hands-on activity, live performance, exhibitions, markets, and talks. Designed as a participatory event for all ages, it invites visitors to explore making in all its forms — from traditional craft techniques to contemporary design, industrial processes, and experimental practice.  

Here are the venue + access + parking details for the National Festival of Making (2026), strictly based on confirmed official sources.

Event Overview

The National Festival of Making takes place on Saturday 4th July and Sunday 5th July 2026 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM across Blackburn town centre.

Where to Park

Official guidance does not list event-specific pricing, but multiple public car parks are open throughout the town centre. Recommended options based on your needs include:

• Best for EV Charging: Use Feilden Street Multi-Storey Car Park (MSCP), Brown Street, or Weir Street car parks.

• Best for Blue Badge Parking: The Mall Car Parks (Blocks A, B, and C) offer approximately 38 dedicated disabled parking bays.

• Alternative Transport: If you want to skip town centre traffic, Blackburn Railway Station and Blackburn Bus Station are within a 5-minute walk of the main festival footprint.

  
  

Art, industry, and contemporary commissions

A central strand of the festival is Art in Manufacturing, a commissioning programme that pairs artists with regional industries and cultural partners to develop new work rooted in material, process, and place.

The 2026 programme includes:

• Abigail Hampsey + artisan food producers — A multidisciplinary project exploring rituals of production and preservation through film, sculpture, and painting, developed in collaboration with local food makers and Hampsey’s bakery practice.

• Alina Akbar + the automotive manufacturing sector — A visual and spatial exploration of car culture and independent garages, examining the visual language of aspiration and labour within working-class contexts.

• Matter at Hand (Lewis Jones) + Darwen Terracotta — Continuing a long-term residency exploring architecture, material science, and place-based making through new installation work and participatory activity.

• Penelope Payne + Haworth Art Gallery — A new body of work engaging with social history, domestic space, and overlooked narratives of women’s work and lived experience.

Film, performance, and conversation

The festival’s screen and performance programme takes place across venues including Reel Cinema and other town centre locations, presenting screenings, talks, and live events.  

Highlights include:

• Conversations in Creativity: Johnny Vegas with Graham Duff — An in-conversation event exploring creative practice, performance, and storytelling.  

• Rave Culture (Screening) — A feature-length film exploring the history and cultural impact of rave culture, with roots in 1980s Blackburn.

• Mera Lyari (Screening + Q&A with director Abu Aleeha) — A screening of the film followed by a live discussion with the director, focusing on storytelling and youth ambition in sport.

• Screen Lancashire programme — A series of screenings, talks, and participatory activity exploring film, place, and regional identity.

  
  

Making, workshops, and family activity

Across the weekend, visitors can take part in a wide range of drop-in and bookable workshops designed for all ages and abilities.  

Activities include:

• Tinkertown — A hands-on woodwork and den-building space for children and families in Cathedral Gardens.

• VR Swings – Volo: Dreams of Flight — A virtual reality experience combining motion and immersive storytelling.

• Kitchen Tables — Workshops exploring domestic making and the cultural meaning of home-based creativity.

• Maker’s Market (Blackburn Cathedral) — A curated market by Hopeful & Glorious showcasing independent designers and makers.  

• Taste Lancashire Food Producers Market (King William Street) — A showcase of regional food and drink producers.  

  
  

Additional workshops explore ceramics, printmaking, textile traditions, sustainability, heritage craft, music-making, and digital fabrication.

Performance and public space

The streets and squares of Blackburn host a continuous programme of live performance and music, including:

• Punjabi Roots (Dhol drumming and dance performance)  

• Band Mariia Petrovska (Ukrainian folk music on bandura)

• Rang Qawwal Group (Qawwali devotional music)

• Millicent Chapanda (Mbira performance)

  
  

Additional performances and participatory events take place across Cathedral Square, King William Street, Church Street, and surrounding venues throughout the weekend.

Accessibility and participation

The festival is designed as a fully open and accessible event, with activities distributed across pedestrianised town centre spaces. Most workshops are drop-in and free, with some requiring advance booking or sign-up on the day depending on capacity and materials.  

A town-wide celebration of making

The National Festival of Making continues its focus on connecting art, industry, and community through participation, transforming Blackburn into a collaborative space for making, learning, and shared cultural activity across a single summer weekend.