Printfest, the UK’s foremost artist-led printmaking festival, returns this spring after a two-year break.
Printfest has been held annually since 2001 at Coronation Hall in Ulverston and is dedicated to the exhibition and sale of contemporary hand-made prints by some of the most renowned printmakers in the UK and beyond.
And for the first time it has attracted the backing of a main sponsor, Canter Holland, Chartered Financial Planners and Asset Managers.
The event attracts thousands of art lovers to the South Lakeland and Furness area on the weekend of the early spring bank holiday.
The organising team was in an advanced stage of planning when the pandemic struck in 2020 and the event had to be cancelled that year and again in 2021 when lockdowns were reintroduced.
Chair of the organising committee, Sally Bamber, said: “We are so excited to be back after the pandemic lockdowns. As things return to normal it is even more important than ever that art is seen to be part of the healing process and printmaking is the ideal way of giving access to great art at affordable prices.
“The cancellations meant Printfest faced extra costs, but the fact we have managed to secure a new main sponsor, our first in our 21-year history, means we are able to come back with a bang. We are so grateful to them, and to all our funders and award sponsors.”
Managing director of Canter Holland, Karel Jacobs, said: “We are very excited to be the first main sponsor of Printfest and support contemporary print makers producing high quality affordable art.”
This year’s event will be from Thursday, April 28, to Sunday, May 1.
There will be 45 artists, chosen from 75 applicants, and around 14 of whom will receive awards.
Nine are from Cumbria with the others coming from all over the UK, from Somerset to Kinross.
In addition, there will be four workshops in the Ante Room at the Coro.
These are provided by the Carlisle and Penrith-based Cumbria Printmakers group who offer outreach workshops in different areas of Cumbria and the North West as well as holding their own exhibitions. There are 12 places in each.
Also on display will be work by pupils at secondary schools from Ulverston and the Barrow and Furness district.
Another new committee member is Clare Dent, from Swarthmoor Hall, who will be co-ordinating fringe activities. It is hoped Printfest Fringe will be larger than ever this year, with more than 15 cafés, shops, galleries and local manufacturers putting on linked events and workshops.
