Countdown on until Craft Festival Wales

2nd August 2024

QEST is delighted to share the makers who will be exhibiting with us at the new Craft Festival Wales in September 2024.

Alumni Verity Pulford (glass), Helen Reader (saddlery) and Justyna Medon (wallpaper design), will join us on our stand at Cardigan Castle from 6-8 September.

QEST is proud to be a partner for the Festival which will see more than 80 makers come together to showcase their craft, host workshops, activities and inspire others to consider a career in craft.

Verity is a 2023 QEST Scholar and glass artist based in Denbighshire. Her work is inspired by the shapes and textures of plants and other organisms. She uses various kilnforming techniques including cast glass and pate de verre and her practice is characterized by experimentation and curiosity.

Helen is a 2015 QEST Scholar and saddler based in Carmarthenshire. At the age of five she watched a Master Saddler at work and decided this was the profession for her to pursue. In 2004 Helen set up HR Saddlery, offering a full range of services from bespoke bridle work to saddle fitting.

Justyna is a 2022 QEST Scholar based in Garw Valley, Mid Glamorgan. She has a great interest in historical wallpaper design, which informs her own designs as well as reproductions.

Each maker will be selling their work and doing live demonstrations of their craft on the QEST stand.

In other Craft Festival Wales news, QEST is thrilled to be collaborating with Small World Theatre to deliver an exciting new project for young people in Cardigan focused on the craft of puppet making and performance.

Small World Theatre have extensive experience of delivering puppet theatre and projects that support sustainability, community and wellbeing in Wales.

As part of this collaboration with QEST, 16–25-year-olds from the local area will develop skills, create their own puppets and learn about working in the craft sector over a three-month period. The puppets made by the young people will then be displayed at the Festival and also feature in a performance in the Castle.

In addition, activities will be offered in the family tent at the Festival to instil a love of making and embed the importance of craft skills in the local community.