What’s happening at the first ever Barnstaple Art Weekend this Saturday and Sunday?

A mini art festival is coming to town this Saturday and Sunday as Barnstaple Art Weekend offers a range of artistic activities for all ages to enjoy.

The event on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 has been put together by the Flourishing Barnstaple team, which works with events groups in the town to support their endeavours and hope to bring the activities to a wider audience.

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It all begins on Saturday with an Arts and Music Fest on the Strand from 11am to 3pm. In partnership with Queen Anne’s Café and supporting Children’s Hospice South West, the Strand will be packed with free activities including a teddy bear's picnic, bouncy castles, buskers and Big Draw art workshops in conjunction with North Devon Arts.

Also on Saturday there will be ‘Green Man Pottery’ and ‘Seascape in Acrylics’ workshops at St Anne’s Chapel. More information and booking details are available via www.ploughartscentre.org.uk.

Barnstaple Pannier Market will be hosting the first-ever ArtsFest on Sunday from 11am to 4pm, which will see the market bustling with arts and craft stalls gathered together by the Craft Collective, as well as buskers, food vendors and free felting workshops offered by North Devon Arts.

Cultural producer Lee Baxendale said: “It’s great to be able to work with so many different venues and groups within the town, and to collaborate on events that are free for the local community.

“Barnstaple is a town which has lots of different cultural groups working hard to ensure they have a really diverse offer for the people of the town and North Devon. In supporting these events we hope that the links that have been forged will continue long into the future.

“We are particularly excited to be working with North Devon Arts and this year’s Big Draw project, which is entitled Drawn Together. As you will see they are supplying free workshops over the weekend and as we move into the autumn months they will be working on an exciting piece of community art.”

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For more information on these, and many other activities happening in town this summer, visit www.barnstaple.co.uk.

Flourishing Barnstaple is a North Devon Council initiative, funded by the government and administrated by Arts Council England.