Craft Festival Bovey Tracey | 6-8 June 2025
20th June 2025
Earlier this month, we returned to the much-loved Craft Festival Bovey Tracey for our fourth year exhibiting – celebrating 21 years of this vibrant event set in the parkland on the edge of Dartmoor. Despite a very wet Saturday, the festival drew around 10,000 visitors across the weekend, welcoming aspiring makers, practicing craftspeople, creative teens, curious children, locals – and plenty of dogs.
On the QEST stand, Emerging Makers Chris Polin and Jackie Stephens demonstrated their crafts live. Chris, a luthier, shared the precision of guitar fretting, while Jackie – a weaver – completed four metres of her ‘Red Dragon’ tartan on the loom, as well as hand stitching intricate pleats. She now plans to turn the finished fabric into a bespoke bag.
Alongside them, QEST Scholars Geoff Hannis, Samuel Waterhouse and Justyna Medon also exhibited. Geoff drew the crowds with regular woodturning demonstrations on the lathe, highlighting both technique and material beauty.
This year, we were pleased to showcase the work of the MAKE Southwest Craft & Making Club on our stand. The 13–16-year-olds in this year’s cohort have been exploring glass, ceramics and textiles – their pieces offering a fresh and imaginative perspective on craft today.
Meanwhile, in the Kids Tent, QEST’s Sally Angus and Youth Board member Elizabeth Jarvis led a hands-on activity where children created their own collaged wooden panels. Their drop-in sessions were busy throughout, with young visitors proudly taking home their creations.
Thank you to everyone who came to visit us!
Image credits QEST and Jim Wileman
