Centuries-old crafts are being brought to life at a family friendly festival in County Durham.
All ages will have the chance to get stuck into stone carving, have a crack at carpentry or take a closer look at candle-making at Auckland Castle’s free Craft Skills Festival on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17.
The free festival will provide a unique insight into a variety of historic crafts including green woodwork, felting and leatherwork with experts in skills such as blacksmithing also in attendance to give live demonstrations.
Dozens of talented craft artists will fill the grounds of the 900-year-old Castle and a range of hands-on sessions in crafts such as stone carving, weaving and willow work, will offer visitors of all ages the opportunity to get hands on with a new skill.
Victoria Conner of the Willow Barn runs willow-work sessions throughout the year with Auckland Castle Trust and will be holding hands-on workshops at the Craft Skills Festival.
She said: “Willow work is one of the oldest skills, it’s lovely to work such a beautiful natural material and it is a very therapeutic craft.
“The Craft Skills Festival is a great way to keep traditional skills such as willow work alive, and making something from scratch with your hands is such a wonderful feeling.”
Festival goers can also browse a wide variety of craft stalls and a range of tailored children’s activities will be running throughout the weekend.
Other free-drop in sessions will offer the opportunity to get hands on with herbs to create their own herbal tea blend or aromatic bath salt.
Those inspired by the historic crafts on display can step further into Auckland Castle’s history on a Behind the Scenes Tour, running from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Visitors joining the tours of St Peter’s Chapel, which run from 10am to 4pm throughout the weekend, will be wowed by more than the stunning stained glass, as Flowers in the Chapel takes place.
As part of the Bishop Auckland-wide Celebration of Flowers event, the historic chapel will be filled with beautiful bouquets and garlands of flowers and foliage from the Castle grounds.
The free Craft Skills Festival and Behind the Scenes Tours and floral celebration are all part of a programme of events taking place whilst Auckland Castle is closed for extensive restoration work.
The former home to the Prince Bishops of Durham is being returned to its former glory as part of a £70m project by Auckland Castle Trust.
With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, (HLF) and other key partners the Castle is due to re-open in May 2018, until then events will be held in its grounds and the deer park will remain open to the public.
Head of Visitor Engagement at Auckland Castle Trust, Hannah Peaden said: “It’s so important to celebrate traditional skills and crafts, many of which have been around for centuries.
“The Craft Skills Festival weekend is a fantastic opportunity to have fun, enjoy the autumnal foliage and maybe even take home a new hobby.”
The Craft Skills Festival will take place at Auckland Castle from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17. For more information and to keep up to date on upcoming events, visitaucklandcastle.org