The Capital of Craft LIVE in the Tower Room will present a range of talks, masterclasses and panel discussions with a range of leading makers. All talks free unless marked. You will need a ticket to Craft Festival to gain entry. 

Friday

10.30 Masterclass: Tom Hare, Willow Sculpture Masterclass BOOK HERE

12.30 Panel Discussion: What impact did winning the Eisteddfod have on your practise?* Makers from Aur Exhibition including Catrin Howell and Ann Catrin Evans.  BOOK HERE

2pm Talk: A Brief History of Craft in Museums with Elaine Manley, National Museum of Wales, Craft Curator:  BOOK HERE

Where does craft sit in the context collections? As an art form craft seems to be constantly recontextualised and re-evaluated. 

This talk will explore museum practises for the collection, display and interpretation of craft and offer insight into how public collections enriched by it’s inclusion. 

3pm Talk: Rees in Rhys: The Journey of Lord Rhys* with artistic director, Marc Rees. BOOK HERE

Marc Rees, the artistic director of the acclaimed 850th anniversary celebration of the first Eisteddfod—staged in the very place where the Craft Festival is now held—takes audiences behind the scenes of this landmark project, tracing its journey from initial concept and creative development to realisation and reflection. The talk will also explore other site-responsive and community-centred works from his impressive body of groundbreaking practice, revealing the creative processes behind some of Wales’ most ambitious and immersive performances.

Saturday

10.30am Talk: The Welsh Blanket with Prof Helen Rees Leahy, Professor Emeritus Museology, University of Manchester.  BOOK HERE

Across the world, blankets are woven into the textile cultures of the places where they are made and used. Today, double-cloth blankets, with their distinctive geometric patterns, are still made in half a dozen mills Welsh mills, and demand for both new and vintage blankets is buoyant. How did this handful of mills survive the technological and economic shifts of the twentieth century? How and why was double-cloth weaving revived in the 1950s? This talk will unpick some of these threads to explore the design, production and meaning of Welsh blankets, past and present.

Helen Rees Leahy is Professor Emeritus in Museology, University of Manchester. She lives in north Wales and is writing a book about the history of the Welsh textile industry for the University of Wales Press.

12.30 Panel Discussion Makers from Wales on the Town Trail chaired by Professor Helen Rees Leahy including Tom Frost, John Pearce and Ella Bua-In BOOK HERE

2pm Talk: Drawing Conclusions – Cardigan and District in Historical Art with Glen Johnson BEM, Historian at Cardigan Castle. BOOK HERE

Glen Johnson, Cardigan’s local historian, explores the wealth of information and secrets hidden in the work of artists who have visited this part of west Wales for centuries. Great artists, such as Turner, Wilson and the Buck brothers, visited this area and left us their own unique interpretation of the landscape and buildings they found here. 

3.30pm Music The Craft of Performance with Daniel Davies and Andrew Gallop. BOOK NOW

Cellist, Daniel Davies performs Boris Kerner, Caroline Shaw’s inventive work for cello and flower pots, joined by drummer Andrew Gallop. Shaw, the youngest-ever Pulitzer Prize winner for Music, is celebrated for her bold and original compositions. Inspired by German traffic theorist Boris Kerner, the piece explores rhythm, pattern and movement in surprising ways.

Daniel will also assemble and perform on a rare W.H. Hill & Sons Holiday Cello, a collapsible instrument made around 1900 for travelling musicians. One was carried into the First World War by soldier Harold Triggs, who played it at Ypres, while another has been performed on by Steven Isserlis at Westminster Abbey. This extraordinary loan to Craft Festival is made possible through the generosity of the Beare family, the world’s leading authority on fine string instruments.

Sunday

10.30am Masterclass:  Sophie Snow, Textile Artist and Quilter* BOOK HERE

11.45 In Conversation Featuring Eisteddfod Y Garreg Las 2026, Gold Meal Winner from Y Lle Celf for Craft, ceramic artist Justine Allison.  Justine will discuss her career and award winning work with Craft Festival Director, Sarah James MBE BOOK HERE

1pm Hijinx Theatre Enjoy innovative theatre by Hijinx Theatre, outside on the Castle Green. BOOK HERE

2pm Masterclass: Weaving with Llio James* BOOK HERE

3.30pm Panel Discussion: Living Lineage: What Does Heritage Craft Mean Today? with Heritage Crafts Red List Makers with Mary Eluned, Sustainability Officer, Heritage Crafts. BOOK HERE

Is heritage craft a preserve of the past, or a vital tool for modern life? Join us for an inspiring panel discussion exploring how ancient skills are actively shaping contemporary design, architecture and sustainable culture. Featuring a dry stone waller who is leading a new generation of young wallers, a weaver blending historic cloth structures with modern aesthetics, and a leading craft publisher documenting the movement, this session unpacks what it really means to use traditional skills in the 21st century.

*in Welsh with simultaneous translation. All talks have British Sign Language interpretation.