These craft workshops are the only paid workshops on-site, as there are considerable costs involved in materials and preparation. There are many free craft workshops happening on-site that aren’t available for pre booking, including natural dying, yurt making, green woodworking, leatherworking, willow weaving and much more!
Ayacucho Embroidery with Dorrie Joy
￡50, 20 places, Saturday 17th August 12:00pm – 3:30pm
Learn 7 embroidery stitches in this gorgeous, forgiving, traditional style. Working with bright organic yarn on pure wool medicine bags, sharing songs, blessings, teachings & sweetness from this Peruvian lineage.
Book Ayacucho Embroidery Workshop
Ayacaxtli (middle earth) – Aztec Ceremonial Gourd Rattle making with Guillermo Martinez
￡60, 60 places, Saturday 17th August 2:00pm – 4:00pm
The rattle is one of the sacred triad of ancient musical instruments (with the drum and the flute). All participants will be crafting a traditional gourd rattle. Sourced from an organic farm in California, these plants have been used for thousands of years to create these most sacred of medicine tools. We will be also learning about the materials involved and picking the right stones for the inside that gives the rattle their distinctive sound and energy and covering other materials that rattles can be made from alongside embellishing techniques and their traditional historical use in ceremonies from many different cultures.
This workshop is led by Guillermo Martinez with Hiroki Okano and Nigel Shaw
Book Aztec Ceremonial Gourd Rattle Workshop
Medicine Bags & Wild Medicine Teachings with Dorrie Joy
￡50, 20 places, Saturday 17th August 5:30pm – 7:30pm
A sweet & nourishing workshop crafting Medicine Pouches from soft, ethically sourced deer leather, filled with freshly prepared Cedar, with teachings on harvesting Wild Medicines for Blessings, Health & Sustainability.
Ice Drums with Dorrie Joy
￡275, 12 places, Sunday 18th August 10:30am – 4:00pm
Medicine Drum Making Workshop in a rich ceremonial space, birthing Harmonic Reindeer Drums with Crystal Handles on 18” Oval Steamed Ash Frames in the traditional Sami design, held by internationally renowned drum maker Dorrie Joy. All materials are ethically sourced & hand prepared with integrity & care. Includes drum beater & blessing. Arrive on time & bring packed lunch & water.
Medicine Shields with Dorrie Joy
￡60, 20 places, Sunday 18th August 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Ceremonially crafted Medicine Shields, an ancient cross cultural Indigenous tradition of a decorative shield of personal medicine & protection. A range of organic rawhide rounds strung onto buckskin wrapped frames, with herbs, feathers, totems & ochre.
Book Medicine Shields Workshop
Forest Drums with Dorrie Joy (SOLD OUT)
￡275, 12 places, Friday 16th August 10:30am – 4:00pm
Medicine Drum Making Workshop in a rich ceremonial space, birthing Earthy Dartmoor Deerskin Drums with Antler Handles on 14” Steamed Ash Frames, held by internationally renowned drum maker Dorrie Joy. All materials are ethically sourced & hand prepared with integrity & care. Includes drum beater & blessing. Arrive on time & bring packed lunch & water.
Medicine Rattles with Dorrie Joy (SOLD OUT)
￡60, 20 places, Friday 16th August 5:30pm – 7:30pm
This workshop includes sanding, shaping, oiling & creating a personal medicine rattle from a pre-sewn rawhide head filled with singing river stones. Includes a wide range of sustainably sourced wild furs, feathers, antler, stone & bone beads to choose from.
Book Medicine Rattles Workshop
Bark Tanned Salmon Skins 1.5 hours with Jessie Watson Brown
£25, Daily Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August various times (1.5 hours)
Learn the ancient skill of tanning skins – Salmon skins are usually thrown away as waste, here we will transform them into beautiful textured leather. Take home a finished salmon skin side
Book Bark Tanned Salmon Skins Workshop
Deer Bone Knives with Jessie Watson Brown
£20, Thursday 15th August 3.30pm (1.5 hours)
Craft a sacred knife from a deer bone – using the knowledge of our ancestors to make a beautiful bone knife, sharp enough to cut a fruit – or to cut ties in ceremony.
Book Deer Bone Knives Workshop
Deer Hoof Rattle Making with Jessie Watson Brown
£50, Friday 16th August 3.30pm (3 hours)
Come and dive into the medicine of the deer – their heart-shaped hooves create the perfect rattles, with delicate fluid sounds and a deep beauty.
(Disclaimer: during these workshops We will be working up close with ethically sourced deer leg parts).
Book Deer Hoof Rattle Workshop
Deerskin Medicine Pouches with Jessie Watson Brown
£30, Saturday 17th 3pm & Sunday 18th August 10.30am (2 hours)
Sew your own medicine pouch, using traditionally, naturally tanned deerskin from ethical sources.
Book Medicine Pouches Workshop
Bone and Antler Jewellery with Jessie Watson Brown
£30, Friday 16th 12.30pm, Saturday 17th 10am, & Sunday 18th August 12pm (1.5 hours)
Using naturally shed red deer antlers and gathered bones from deer, we will make adornments of beauty – with copper wire and leather threads, let your deer imagination flow.
Book and Antler Jewellery Workshop
Reindeer Rawhide Lanterns
£38, Sunday 18th August 2pm (2 hours)
Harness the soft warm glow of candlelight through rawhide skin, gather and work with the Reindeer of Norway’s skins to create a lantern for your home.
Book Rawhide Lanterns Workshop
Longbow Making with Marcus from Golden Lotus Archery
£38, Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August 11am, 3pm (1.5 hours)
Craft a Longbow or Mongolian Horse Bow. This is an opportunity to learn and use traditional skills and techniques to create an extremely effective and beautiful archery bow. Using the highest quality professional materials and tools, a lovingly constructed bow can become a living, fully functional work of art. Archery offers a very real remembrance of our ancestral skill, and the crafting of a bow allows us access to the knowledge developed by our ingenious ancestors. To craft a bow is to create a timeless tool with which to experience the zen and exhilarating ancient art of archery.
The LONGBOW is priced at £38. Made with natural and professional modern materials, this quick, sleek bow is an excellent introduction into bow making and the joy of archery.
The Mongolian HORSE BOW is the premium version of our bows, and is priced at an additional £25. These bows are uniquely defined by the ingenious Mongolian invention of the extended curved wooden bow tips. These produce a smoother draw and faster arrow speed, resulting in an extremely effective and beautiful bow. With the pleasure of crafting this superior model, there is the extended opportunity of learning additional skills and techniques, and the possibility for more personalised adornment. Being of a higher design the Horse Bow takes an hour extra to make. Upon completion, your creation can then be tested on our archery range at the festival.
All bookings are initially made for the Longbow price of £38. The Horse Bow can then be chosen and paid for when attending the workshop.
Archery with Marcus from Golden Lotus Archery
£5, Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August 1-5pm (30-60 minutes)
Archery is an art almost as old as humanity itself. As one of humankind’s earliest and profoundly influential inventions, shooting a bow beautifully embodies both a timeless power and grace. The making of the bow itself is also an elegant dance, combining the intellect along with intuition, shaping the gifts of nature into functional form. In our workshop we offer an opportunity to learn traditional skills and techniques to create a highly effective and beautiful archery bow. With being instinctively easy to shoot, these bows are an excellent introduction into archery and the world of bow making. Handed on from generation to generation, the ancient art of bow making carries a deep wealth of traditional crafts, knowledge and wisdom. Drawing upon these ancient assets, along with using the highest quality materials, this workshop results in a particularly fast shooting, accurate and attractive creation. A well made bow is a living, fully functional work of art, and a timeless tool which connects us to our ancestry and to shoot a swift arrow from a beautiful bow made with your own hands is a most unique, satisfyingly fine and eternal experience.
This session is a drop-in session in the Soil to Soul area.
Silver Jewellery Workshop in Sand Casting with Issi Bulloch
£110, Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August 10am, 1pm, 3pm (2 hours)
Forage the Festival or bring your own unique treasure and cast it in Recycled Sterling Silver. Acorn pendants, twig rings or a turkey tail mushroom earring. What treasures will you find to turn into a silver souvenir of Medicine Festival.
Using the process of Sand Casting you will imprint your piece in the sand then i will pour molten metal from my gas furnace into it, taking on the shape of the piece in silver. Then afterwards you will learn basic jewellery techniques of sawing and soldering to turn your piece into a wearable piece of jewellery made by your own hands.
Book Silver Jewellery Workshop
Willow Plant Climber Workshop with Alistair Hayhurst
£20, Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August 10am (2 hours)
Willow Obelisk Workshop-A great & timeless introduction to willow.
Come relax and immerse yourself in this beautiful material and make your own plant climber to take home. Learn the basics of weaving in several different styles and choose your own design to build these simple yet beautiful climbers.
Spoon Carving with Alan Mitchen
£20, Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August 10am, 12.30pm, 3pm (2 hours)
In this two hour introduction you will learn professional sloyd knife carving techniques to carve a spoon from a freshly prepared birch blank. Green wood is softer than seasoned wood and there are
no splinters or dust to contend with.
I will teach you how to use the knives efficiently to make carving as easy as it can be, and as safely as possible using professional quality Swedish Mora knives.
With many years of experience running this workshop at festivals there is no better introduction to this craft and I keep the price low to make it accessible for everyone.
Rastafarian Culture in the Kitchen, Learn How to Make Your Own Paradise Pie
£18, Sunday 18th August, 10.30 (3 hours 15 mins)
Aris LaTham, the father of gourmet ethical raw foods in America is committed to promoting raw Ital cuisine, a style of cooking that is rooted in Rastafarian culture and emphasizes natural unprocessed plant-based ingredients. Learn how to make your own paradise pie, that is steeped in Panamanian and Jamaican roots. Coming together to try your hand at creating some of his tantalising and positively healing raw recipes for you.
The Workshop allows for 12 people to cook at one time. Participants will be asked to switch roles between observer and cook a few times to ensure everyone gets a chance to get involved.
Book Paradise Pie Cookery Workshop
Harmony in Bamboo: Indian Flute Playing and Crafting
Raga: £35, Craft simple: £45, Craft master: £100
Craft your own flute 10am (3 hours), Indian Raga 2pm & 4pm (1.5 hours) Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August
Delve into the realm of Indian Spiritual music with our Flute Workshops. Guided by an experienced Indian Musician, Nikunj Patadiya, participants will be introduced to the basics of playing Hindustani ragas on the flute. Additionally, embrace the hands-on experience of crafting your own bamboo flute, allowing you to take home a unique, personally crafted instrument. Ragas on the Flute: Learn to play simple or advanced Hindustani Indian ragas with a bamboo flute you have crafted Craft your own Bamboo flute: Craft your own simple bamboo flute Craft your own Bamboo flute (master): Craft a larger bamboo flute over two days.
No booking required – drop-in sessions in Soil to Soul area.
Copper Workshops, Costumes, Jewellery and Head Pieces with Theo
Donation based, All day every day
Open workshops in Cold metal work from brass copper and steel, facilitating following intuition and curiosity regarding what is to be made. You can make anything from jewellery to sculptures of animals, humans, robots abstract form and collage. You can make decorations for hats and clothing, body adornments, masks, head dresses and the like.
No booking required – drop-in sessions in Soil to Soul area.
Mending Clothes: Reincarnation Repair Workshop
£16 Thur 15th 2pm-4pm, Fri 16th 10am-12pm, Sat 17th 2pm-4pm Sun 18th 10am-12pm
We’ll be getting loose with a needle n thread, exploring our own ways of stitching and fixing our cloth homies. And darning our knitted darlings into their next life. We will be talking about the history of sewing, and the importance of sewing circles within communities of past and present as well as the philosophy of sewing as an act of rebellion. We will also be getting physical with it, embodying the needle, thread and fabric in a play style to imagine and practice different ways to repair and reuse our clothes. It doesn’t always have to be neat n tidy, but neat and tidy can bee steezy too! bring your broken loves ones and we will bring them into the next life together. We’ll have scrap fabrics, needles, threads & yarns in different shapes and sizes as well as other fun and helpful tools and equipment. feel free to bring along anything you desire. Open to one and all.
Book Reincarnation Repair Workshop
Clay Creations
£15, Daily, 10am, 11.30am, 2pm, 3.30pm (1hr)
Join for a relaxed and meditative time creating offerings from clay. Small bowls and animal totems will be made using hand-building techniques, decorated and imbued with elements from the natural world. Although unfired, items can be taken home to keep, or left in a memorable place to dissolve back into the earth.
Park on the Wild Side
Free, Daily 1. 10 – 11.15am
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