Where and when
Woolfest 2012 will be held on Friday 22 June 10am-6pm & Saturday 23 June 10am-5pm
at Mitchell's Lakeland Livestock Centre, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 0QQ.
Entrance costs £6 per day. No concessions. Accompanied children free
Tickets only available on the door
**Next Year's Dates** Friday & Saturday 28th & Saturday 29th 2013
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From smallest sheep to biggest ever Woolfest
From the world's smallest breed of sheep (Oessants) to the biggest ever Cockermouth gathering of wool enthusiasts, Woolfest 2011 broke all records. Visitors came from all over Europe (including Finland, Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands), Australia, New Zealand and Canada as well as thousands from all over the UK, including several coach parties.
"We've been growing gradually over the seven years of Woolfest and had a record number of stalls this year at 140," said organiser, Marion Woolcott from The Wool Clip, "but we still couldn't quite believe the leap to over 2,500 people on the first day this year. Overall, I think we probably had over 5,000 visitors during the two days as there were also lots of children, especially on Saturday, and they don't pay for entry. It was really good to welcome several local school groups to Woolfest on Friday and the students from Keswick, Cleator Moor and Cockermouth seemed to find plenty of interest."
The jump in numbers was also reflected in the traffic - the Mitchell's team had to open up an additional field for car parking on both days - and record figures from the sale of raw fleece. "We ask breeders and farmers to bring along their fleece for sale," said Jan Hicks, another Wool Clip member, "and then spinners and other visitors can buy as close to direct as possible. We were piled high at 10am on Friday when Woolfest opened but were looking a bit depleted, having sold over 320 fleeces - almost as many as we sold in total last year - by the end of the first day. Fortunately, more fleece was brought in on Saturday morning so there was still a wide selection of different colours, breeds and weights available. In all, we sold nearly 500 raw fleeces at prices that ranged from £3 to over £30 each depending on the breed, quality and quantity."
That additional value for British wool is what Woolfest is all about.
"We want to celebrate the best of British wool," said Marion, "and show the amazing range of uses, applications and inspirations that wool can create. Woolfest exhibitors developing practical applications included Second Nature with wool insulation, Wools of Cumbria Carpets and The Wool Room with its wool duvets, pillows and other bedding. But the biggest draw for most visitors is the amazing range of wool crafts - equipment, tools, patterns, kits, yarn, felt and everything to go with them to create the most amazing woollen goods."
There were 35 stalls trading at Woolfest for the first time this year, including:
• Susan Crawford Vintage with her evocative knitting patterns and Excelana yarns
• Kumika Hotta of cocoon, knitting and creating with Japanese Habu silks, pineapple fibre and even stainless steel yarn
• Maggie Savan of Textile Garden with an Aladdin's cave of buttons, clasps, buckles and pins
• Helen Rippin, all the way from New South Wales in Australia, with a range of artisan yarns from down under
• Nico Ingham from Window of Woolly Wonders with a stunning display of hangings and dolls as well as yarns and kits
• Alinta Higgs from Derbyshire with her stunning knitwear designs and
• Jamie Lewis for his felted menagerie with one of the more unusual displays that included (as well as trilby hats and laptop covers) felted kiwis, prawns, owls, frogs and an amazing lobster!
A couple of these first timers also contributed demonstrations throughout the show including Jamie Lewis wet felting animal figures and Sue Allan of SewSister recycling vintage textiles and hand-dyed felts into quirky homewares.
Jon Booker of Natural Born Dyers was also at Woolfest for the first time with his beautiful fibres and yarns. Jon's business was the recipient of this year's Carolyn Rawlinson Memorial Stall, a free stall that is awarded each year to someone new in the wool business in memory of the late Carolyn Rawlinson, one of the founders of The Wool Clip and of Woolfest itself.
"Each year we think that we've reached a peak and that it's the best and biggest ever," said Pam Hall, another of the founders, "but it keeps growing. The creativity among artisan producers and designers using British wool and the enthusiasm of our visitors seems to know no bounds."
Monday 27th of June 2011