National Festival of Making 2027

The National Festival of Making will return to Blackburn town centre on Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th June 2027 to celebrate ten years of the National Festival of Making, Art in Manufacturing and the CIC’s year round work.

This edition of the Festival marks ten years since our founding year in 2017. We're looking forward to celebrating the partnerships, collaborations, achievements and making programmes that hundreds of thousands of you have participated in and experienced over that time. 

Festival regulars will notice the 2027 dates are a week earlier than our usual July weekend. This is due to the Tour de France rolling through Blackburn for Stage Two of its Grande Départ on Saturday 3rd July. The race will take in Lancashire’s rolling hills as it winds its way from Keswick to Liverpool and comes directly through the Borough.

The National Festival of Making will therefore open 10 days of culture and sport in Blackburn and Darwen, with a programme that brings together artistic commissions; performance; film; music, MAKING and MORE.