We think it’s time we invited you back to Woodfordia. Ten weeks is enough time to be away from this beautiful site, with its opportunities to camp and grow and laugh with new friends - don’t you agree?
Artisan Camp is like all the craftiest bits of Woodford Folk Festival, rolled together in an intimate setting with wonderful people. You get to immerse yourself in workshops of your choosing, spending the days getting creative and the nights jamming around the campfire and sharing stories.
It’s the third time we have opened our gates for Artisan Camp, and we are inviting around 100 people to join us for workshops on silversmithing, circus, songwriting, millinery, rhythm workshops, acrylic painting, rock eisteddfod, ukulele and comedy. The class sizes stay small, and you get to learn from masters of their craft!
This year our teachers include a Guinness World Record holder, a leading figure in Australian percussion, a comedian with a global reputation, an artist who has worked with Disney, an award winning songwriter, and artisans with literally hundreds of years of experience under their cumulative belt.
Chelsea McGuffin actually holds two world records for walking on champagne bottles! If anyone knows the circus tricks of the trade it is her, and she’ll teach you the basics of circus and acrobatics, with a serious amount of fun, and you’ll leave the camp with a few tricks up your sleeve!
Kirsten Fletcher has taken her hat making skills to London, where she worked on a plethora of productions from Walt Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to ‘Onegin’ at the Royal Opera House. If you attend her workshops, you will learn how to carve your own hat block, shape and block your hat and how to hand finish your creation. With these essential skills, the delightful world of hat making will be yours to explore!
We are delighted to have festival favourite and all ‘round legend Greg Sheehan onboard to teach body percussion at Artisan Camp this year. If you’re never seen him play a tambourine - google it now! RABKA Gold & Silversmiths also join us again, with over 20 years of experience in the ancient craft of jewellery making. You’ll head home with a big smile on your face and a handful of handmade jewellery pieces! It’s up to you whether you keep them, or gift them.
It will be amazing to see Vanessa Wallace sharing her artisan skills with us also, as we put paint to canvas to learn acrylic painting.
If being onstage is more your jam, then Sue Ray will teach you the art of songwriting, Dave Thornton will share his tips for stand-up comedy, and Philip Griffin will have you strumming your ukulele like a pro.
We’ve also got choreographer, performer and theatre maker Neridah Waters onboard to create her very own rock eisteddfod team. So if you ever wished that you could crack out a killer routine on the dancefloor, this workshop is for you.
Basically, it’s three days of learning a new craft (or perhaps perfecting one you’ve learnt before). We invite you to stay onsite at Woodfordia, either in your own tent/van or in one of our accommodation options. We are excited to offer you caravans, luxury bell tents and trusted Tent City this year, so that you can be sure of a beautiful place to lay your head.
Got little ones? No worries! Wildlings Adventure Club will be running alongside Artisan Camp this year, so you can send your 3-15 year olds to play and live the Forest Schooling experience while you create. They will explore making fishing rods in the creek, bug hotels, cubby houses, and whatever else their imagination devines. It’s all about supervised adventurous free play, allowing you the space and calm to meet your artisan dream.
Here’s another hot tip: the last night of Artisan Camp is always a bit special. We gather for a delicious meal from our chef-run Artisan Kitchen, watch as our professional artisans perform, perhaps sneak in a performance of our own, and enjoy a range of drinks at 1980s prices (including the signature Artisan Camp cocktail!).
It’s a beautiful and unique opportunity that we feel so blessed to be able to offer you - connection, creativity, camping and cocktails! Come along, make something beautiful and be a part of a lovely community of like-minded artistic souls this April.
And if you book in for your workshops, you also get 50% off your ticket to The Planting!
Artisan Camp happens from 30 April - 2 May 2019.