Blacksmithing Festival Sparks Excitement in Hereford!

[Hereford Voice]

A ten-day festival of artist blacksmithing begins on 25 March, bringing an array of exciting events to Hereford City Centre. 

Created in partnership with Hereford City Life and Hereford College of Arts, Ferrous Festival showcases cutting edge work and ideas, with international exhibitions hosted alongside popular attractions. Visitors are encouraged explore the city centre and discover the world of forged metal. 

Must-see festival highlights include: 

{Queer} + {Metals}

This Craftspace exhibition is co-curated by Dauvit Alexander and Deirdre Figueiredo in collaboration with Rebekah Frank. It features artists including jeweller John Moore, jeweller and drag artist Fei He, knife maker Gilbert Hadden and metalsmith Theo Somerville-Scott, amongst others. 

Queer + Metals explores the multiplicity of queerness—whether as identity, lived experiences, thinking, cultures, aesthetic, influences, stories, place, and imagination—in relation to metalwork and metalsmithing.

Planet of the Blacksmiths 

For the first time, Japanese photographer, Jun Ishikura’s photographs of blacksmiths in their forges around the world will been shown in the UK. Jun travelled to many different places to create the incredible collection of work on show and it is fascinating to see the similarities and the differences in the way that the blacksmithing community work in the many different countries represented in Jun’s photographs. 

Live Forging 

Forging at Ferrous has once again captured the imagination of visitors, with tickets for the popular Have a Go Forgingevent selling out in advance. Visitors can watch as experienced Hereford Anvils blacksmiths guide novice makers through forging their own tree support at the Live Forging tent in High Town or visit the Old Market Shopping Centre to see demonstrations at The Nowhere Forge, a mobile blacksmithing workshop run by Simon Bushell. 

Ferrous Festival will officially open tomorrow morning at 8:30am with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Paul Stevens. Live forging begins at 9:30am, with exhibitions opening between 10:00am and 11:00am.

Learn more at www.ferrousfestival.co.uk