Open Studios: Hebden Makes Christmas - The Waterfront Hall
Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd December 2023
10.30am - 5pm
Free entry to all sites
Hebden Bridge will come alive with the true spirit of Christmas this December 2 and 3 as over 100 local artists stage "Hebden Makes Christmas" - an art, craft, and open-art-studios spectacle and festive gift shopping experience.
There will be art and craft fairs at the Town Hall, Methodist Church, Northlight Studios Winter Fair, Advent at Wainsgate and lots of artists opening their studios and workshops. There are over 100 artists taking part this year!
Local artist and Hebden Bridge Open Studios organiser Dorothy Ann Simister said, "For the second year, artists and makers from the Hebden Bridge area will gather to put on the best Christmas event in Yorkshire. We hope to re-establish that old-style gift-giving spirit of Christmas, where people can find gifts that aren't just for the Christmas season, not even just for the year ahead - but gifts that will be treasured, appreciated, talked about, and used for a lifetime. These are not things you can find on the high street.
Local Self-Portrait Artist Roo Waterhouse added, "Hebden Makes Christmas gives people a wonderful and rare chance to meet the maker, creating a truly memorable Christmas gift-buying experience. Just imagine in ten or twenty years, referring to that painting on your wall, or drinking from that precious mug you gifted your sibling or friend and remembering the time you met the artist who made it with their very own hands?"
Organiser John Noble Milner said, "'Hebden Makes Christmas' will be like the Christmas Markets of old - a chance to gather together in the village, drink mulled wine, celebrate the festive season and find one-off handcrafted gifts. The bonus of Hebden Makes Christmas is you get to meet the maker - an experience that just isn't possible to gain on the high street.
"Our local artists are renowned for the quality of their work and we're lucky to have such a wide variety of talent offering pieces ranging from jewellery, sculpture, glassware, ceramics, and carpentry to landscape watercolours, oil paintings, illustrations, and photography," John said.
You can pick up a map from The Town Hall, Heart Gallery, Hope Gallery, Spirals, lots of cafes, bars, and shops, or any of the participating artists.
Follow #hbopenstudios2023 and #hebdenmakeschristmas and find us @hbopenstudios on Facebook and Instagram.
