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Celebrity Kirstie Allsopp has launched a new craft fair, which will take place in Hampton Court Palace in Surrey from September 19 to September 21.
Organised by Brand Events, The Handmade Fair will gather together experts to create ‘a learning experience for those passionate about creating bespoke craft products’.
The event, which is sponsored by Hobbycraft, will give visitors the opportunity to make something in a craft workshop, listen to presentations, enjoy food in the palace gardens, and buy products from hand-picked sellers.
Tickets for the Fair are due to go on general release on June 5 and the organisers, headed by Kirstie Allsopp, have decided to go for a Guinness World Record at the event.
The plan is to break the record for the number of pompoms laid end to end. Kirstie is calling on the great British public to help by making three pompoms, tying them together and dropping them off at a Hobbycraft store or bringing them to the Fair. Hobbycraft stores across the country will also be holding pomination workshops during half term and the summer holidays for children to join in the fun.
Kirstie said: “This is an event that has learning and making at its core. It’s a celebration of all kinds of skills from sewing to knitting, sugarcraft to crocheting, papercrafts, upcycling, and,of course, pompom making. With tents full of talented designer makers, workshops and dream speakers this is an unmissable weekend for anyone who’s ever wanted to have a go.”
The Fair will offer six learning workshops, known as ‘Craft Banquets’. Each tent will seat 100 attendees for six sessions per day, covering knitting and textiles, jewellery making, paper craft, food, upcycling and seasonal crafts.
A demo theatre will stage conversations with craft experts passing on their skills, inspirations and experience to the audience. The theatre will seat 600 attendees for six sessions per day across the three-day event.
Kirstie is best known for presenting C4’s ‘Kirstie’s Homemade Home’; ‘Kirstie’s Handmade Britain’; ‘Kirstie’s Crafty Christmas’; ‘Kirstie’s Homemade Christmas’; ‘Kirstie and Phil’s Perfect Christmas’; ‘Kirstie’s Fill Your House for Free’; and long-running property series ‘Location, Location, Location’. She has also written four books: ‘Kirstie’s Homemade Home’, ‘Craft’, ‘Kirstie’s Vintage Home’ and ‘Kirstie’s Crafty Christmas’.
