Derbyshire Makes Festival!
We’re delighted to announce our packed programme of free activities to celebrate making in all its forms. Come on down to Cromford on April 12th and 13th 2025 and get stuck in. Our Derbyshire Makes festival is all about the power of water as a creative force.
Help us create and shape our water-powered story, enjoy local folk tales co-created with local people and get making! You can make musical instruments from vegetables, race your propeller boat and contribute to our huge magical…. Well we think it’s a fish!?
Lots going on with a promenade performance twice a day that you are all invited to get involved with. Also enjoy the visiting Makory and contribute to Dare to Dream a mass participation project.
The festival is part of the Derbyshire Makes programme: Discover. Make. Share. Celebrate.
If you love making – check out the other Derbyshire Makes festivals in Derbyshire.
Chesterfield Friday 28 – Sunday 30 March
Heanor Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 April
Cromford Mills Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 April
Glossop Tuesday 15 – Wednesday 16 April (Easter holidays)
Bolsover Saturday 19 – Sunday 20 April
Swadlincote Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 April
Our festival is supported by – Babbling Vagabonds, Wild Roots Creative, The Level Centre, Adverse Camber, Fleet Arts, Netty Reddish Creative, Mill Yard Studio Gallery and many other individual people busy making and creating in the area.
Thanks to Derbyshire Makes we are able to expand our informal learning offer and February half term half term saw a packed programme of making in our schoolroom.
Derbyshire Makes is a new, three-year programme of cultural activity across the county, an inspiring celebration of making in all its forms. It launches with a free festival, an annual event taking place in the spring across six distinct local Hubs. Threading its way between these will be the workshop and gallery on wheels The Makory – while a mass making project will invite thousands of people to get stuck in from anywhere in the county. Inspired by Derbyshire’s unique relationship with making, each year will build on the last.
