First edition of the Hampstead Ceramics Fair, independently organised. Showing the work of 25 ceramic makers and artists.

Friday 6pm - 9pm

Saturday 11am - 5pm

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF) is the largest and most prestigious craft fair in the North and one of the leading fairs in the UK. Join for its 18th annual edition over the weekend of 16-19 October in the stunning historic Victoria Baths in Manchester.

GNCCF brings together 200 of the most talented makers from across the UK, from established artists to new graduate talent, all selected for their excellence by a panel of craft experts. It's an unrivalled opportunity to browse and buy a wide array of high-quality, one-off handmade pieces including ceramics (31 artists listed on their website), jewellery and silver, interior and fashion textiles, glass, basketmaking, prints, wood, furniture & more.

Victoria Baths' stunning Edwardian tiled swimming pools, balconies, changing cubicles and Turkish baths are used to great effect as the backdrop for the exhibitors' stands. Visitors will love exploring the venue as much as discovering the wonderful craft on show.

Make a day of it! As well as browsing the craft on sale and meeting the makers, there are maker demos and free drop-in workshops. And when you need a break from shopping, enjoy a delicious snack from our pop-up café.

Preview Evening:

Thursday 16 October: 18.00-21.00 ( note GNCCF is NOT open during the day)

Public Openings:

Friday 17 October: 10.00-18.00

Saturday 18 October: 10.00-18.00

Sunday 19 October: 10.00-16.00

On the first weekend of October artists and crafts people across the borough of Lambeth will be opening their studio and work spaces to the public. Doors will be open from 10am to 6pm, 4th and 5th October and admission will be free. Lambeth Open showcases the fantastic range of creative talent and is a great way to discover the various art spaces too often hidden in neighbourhoods.

Visitors will be able to see inside the artist’s studios and exhibition spaces for a unique personal insight into the individual technical processes. Private Views may be held at a number of exhibition spaces, see venues for details.

Ceramic artists taking part include Jennifer Shramenko and Grace Birkett Kenrick.

Visit the very first Highland Pottery Fair, a vibrant celebration of creativity and local craftsmanship, right in the heart of the Highlands in Inverness.

Taking place in the beautifully restored Gym Hall @ WASPS Inverness Creative Academy, the pottery fair will be held on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October from 10 until 4pm – FREE ENTRY

Bringing together a wonderful selection of Highland-based potters and ceramicists, they’ll be something for everyone. Café de Paulo will also be open during the event to enjoy some coffee and cake!

Recommended parking: Eastgate Shopping Centre Car Park.

Come down to the Ceramicists' Mart for a proper beaut array of ceramic creations by 65 makers at East London venue on Stoke Newington Church Street.

WHAT TO EXPECT
️60 Ceramicists 
Hand-illustrated ceramic treasures; pieces for your tablescape;
beautifully crafted teapots, butter dishes, platters, cups, mugs, plates + bowls;

decorative hand-built + wheel thrown trinkets + keepsakes;
ceramic jewellery + other wearables;
+ loads more besides.

M A R G O T will also be serving up her FAMOUS PIEROGI – *the* best in London, hands down –
alongside Quarter Cup Tea Co.'s INCREDIBLE SMALL-BATCH TEAS, made lovingly by their very own hands; have a cup at the event or buy a bag to take home.

To celebrate the London Design Festival (William Morris Design Line) and Open House London, Turning Earth has organised a few activities to keep you busy this September. 

The Turning Earth Autumn Ceramics Market returns to the Leyton studio on the weekend of the 20th and 21st of September. With 60 different makers offering their handmade pieces over the two days, you can expect to find some crafted and unique treasures.

All the ingredients for the best weekend out are there: handmade pieces, live music, street food and drinks, wheel-throwing demonstrations, and some Sunday workshops.

On Sunday only, the talented Hanna Salomonsson will be back to teach how to hand-build intricate, delicate yet strong flowers. While our senior teacher Ben Sutton will run two raku-style firings: we will have pre-made vases for you to glaze, fire and take home at the end of the session. The spaces for all the workshops are limited, so book promptly. LINK HERE.

But that’s not all. The whole neighbourhood will be buzzing with events and open studios over the weekend. For example, on Saturday 20th, the charity Furnishing Futures will open the doors of its warehouse and show you how they turn what might have been destined for landfill into beautiful, professionally designed spaces that support the recovery of women and children rehoused after domestic abuse. On Sunday 21st, Sharon Hennessy, founder of Suite Comfort 2024, will open her workshop doors and demonstrate the intricate processes that bring old seating pieces back to life, from stripping away old materials to carefully rebuilding each layer with precision and care.

Celebrating the Abergavenny Food Festival 2025.

Discover a diverse collection of domestic ware to suit all tastes: slipware or stoneware, hand-thrown or hand-built, decorative or plain. Now in its 9th year, this annual event is an opportunity to meet exceptionally talented ceramic makers and hear about their ideas and very different making processes. This year look out for some new names alongside regular favourites.

The makers…  Adrift Pottery, Justine Allison, Jo Davies, Matt Grimmitt, Richard St John Heeley, Isatu Hyde, Tim Lake, Neville Tatham, Alanda Wilson.

Craft in Focus event at Hever Castle

9.30am – 5.30pm Thursday - Saturday

9.30am – 4.30pm Sunday

This event will feature some of the UK’s finest contemporary craftmakers and artists, many of whom will be different to those seen at our May event. These craftspeople will be showcasing their work in open-sided marquees within the award-winning Hever Castle Gardens set in 125 acres of glorious grounds with the backdrop of the historic castle – the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.

Exhibitors have been selected from the UK’s finest designer makers and contemporary artists, and the event will incorporate demonstrating artists, a food village and live music!

Purchase from a stunning treasure trove of original designs created by some of the finest craftmakers and artists in the UK. Textiles, paintings, furniture, metal, leather, ceramics, jewellery, glass, fashion and more…

British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) is an arts organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent with a vision of making change through clay.

The next edition of the British Ceramics Biennial will run from 6 September to 19 October 2025, bringing together a dynamic programme of free exhibitions, screenings, talks and events that shine a light on Stoke-on-Trent’s industrial heritage and creative edge.

The full programme has now been released.

Download the full press release here

British Ceramics Biennial 2025 Programme

Award

British Ceramics Biennial’s headline exhibition celebrates the vitality of contemporary ceramics practice in the UK, with 10 artists selected from an open submission process to present ambitious new work and compete for the £10,000 BCB Award Prize. The 2025 Award artists are Kyra Cane, Fernando Casasempere, Noor Ali Chagani & Clio Lloyd-Jacob, Susan Hall, Leah Jensen, Charlotte Moore, Jane Perryman, Alison Rees, Daniel Silver and Jo Taylor. Award is the leading platform for contemporary ceramic practice in the UK.

Awarded

After winning the BCB Award Prize at the 2023 British Ceramics Biennial, Mella Shaw returns with a new work interrogating a little-known contribution to the global climate crisis. In this installation, large hand-built ceramic structures and dramatic lighting will explore the ethics and impact of harvesting polymetallic modules from the sea bed for use in electronics.

Fresh

The Fresh exhibition celebrates and promotes the new wave of artists working in clay. Twenty-five early career artists from the UK and Ireland are selected to take part, with four Fresh Talent Prizes given out during the Biennial. The 25 artists will be announced in the summer.

Fresh Talent

During the 2023 Biennial, five Fresh Talent Prizes were given to artists from Fresh, which included residencies with University of Staffordshire, Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Center, Grymsdyke Farm, BCB Studio and Bolesławiec Cultural Centre . The artists showing the outcome of their residencies are Tim Fluck, Caroline Gray, Andrea Leigh, Chi Onwordi and Krzysztof Strzelecki.

People & Place Commission

BCB’s People & Place Commission sees artist Josie KO exploring the role of Black women in Stoke-on-Trent in The Chimney Princess. Inspired by the shape of Stoke-on-Trent’s iconic bottle kilns, Josie KO will create a new goddess for the city in collaboration with local communities. Standing five feet tall and hand built from black clay, the deity figure will be displayed ‘dancing’ on a spinning turntable in an installation setting inspired by Stoke-on-Trent’s Trentham Gardens.

Playscape

This experimental rammed earth architecture project is a response to learning that the central area of Stoke town currently lacks adequate children’s play facilities. Playscape is a collaboration between BCB Associate Artist Sarah Fraser, Tuckey Design Studio, rammed earth construction specialist Sami Akkach and University of Staffordshire Architecture students that will transform construction clay spoil into a children’s play space. Following a pilot phase, a temporary playscape environment will be shown at the Biennial, to test and inform an ambition to create a permanent rammed earth playscape for Stoke town. During BCB, families will be able to engage with the project and the rammed earth process in the engagement space.

Raverina’s Dance Floor

This interactive, sensory art installation by Portuguese artist Carolina Garfo is inspired by the ceramic practices of the Algarve and explores the intersection between sound and ceramics. The installation features a wave pool initiating a sound artwork with a projection of the artist’s fictional documentary film, ‘Raverina’.

Clay Films

This new element of the Biennial programme is an open submission opportunity for Global Majority artists of African and Caribbean heritage based anywhere in the world who work in film and clay. A panel of film experts, artists and curators will select 10 works for screening. Clay Films has been devised to reflect the expanding range of ways that artists work with clay, in this case showcasing the high quality of artist film work being made – an area of practice which has to date received limited exposure.

Ceramic Cities Exchange international partnership

This creative exchange programme connects Stoke-on-Trent with Bolesławiec, Poland – two cities sharing a rich ceramic heritage. The exchange will be captured in a film presented at the 2025 Biennial. Ceramic Cities Exchange is part of the British Council UK Poland Season 2025. BCB’s partnership with The Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec supports six artists aged 18–24 to gain international exposure and explore how ceramics heritage informs contemporary practice.

Clay Conference: From Waste to Resource: Circular Economies For Construction Clay Spoil

This conference, taking place on 2 October, forms a key part of British Ceramic Biennial’s 19-month research initiative focused on the creative re-use of construction clay spoil. The project explores the opportunities and challenges of re-using clay sourced from UK construction spoil across a range of scales – from individual artists and local communities to large-scale industrial applications.

Led by Claire Baily, a London-based artist, researcher and educator, the conference will present the research findings and build on its ideas through presentations, panel discussions and keynote speeches.

Slip Tales

Part of BCB’s year-round programme working with community groups in Stoke-on-Trent, Slip Tales is an exploration and appreciation of the history and heritage of Staffordshire slipware, which originated in the mid-17th century as elaborately decorated dishes with a distinctive application of the surface pattern design. The participants have created contemporary interpretations of slipware for this project, learning new clay skills and processes and exploring materials. By bringing people together in a creative setting, this collective, positive process supports the building of community cohesion and support networks. Their contemporary interpretations will be shown at the Biennial.

Craft Festival Wales returns to Cardigan Castle this September – a national event for Wales of the finest handmade crafts from across the UK and including some of the UK's finest makers of ceramics.

The event is presented with the support of Event Wales part of Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales, Ceredigion County Council Shared Prosperity Fund, and local business partners.

Photo includes local maker Peter Bodenham, ceramic artist from St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire who has been selected to exhibit.

Some of the other makers from across the UK working in clay include Lowri Davies from Cardiff, Julie Crimmen from Cornwall and 2 Hungry Bakers from Harrow in Middlesex.

Carmel Pottery Annual Pot Sale!
Seconds, end of line, experiments!
All must go.
Other ceramicists also selling:
- Sam Hood Ceramics
- Gweithdy Gwydr
- Noah & Kate Pottery
- Inspired and Fired by Laura
- Anwen’s Bunting
- Deryn Ceramics

Craft in Focus event at RHS Garden Hyde Hall

This event is held in semi-open sided marquees within the Garden and features around 150 exhibitors selected from the finest contemporary craftmakers and artists in the UK.  This event offers a perfect opportunity to see and purchase outstanding work and craftsmanship from talented, professional makers whilst also enjoying an RHS garden of inspirational beauty with sweeping panoramas – there are more than 365 acres of garden to explore! Exhibitors have been selected from the UK’s finest designer makers and contemporary artists and the event will incorporate demonstrations, a food village and live music!

Purchase from a stunning treasure trove of original designs including wood, textiles, artwork, furniture, metalwork, leather, ceramics, jewellery, glass, fashion and more…

I added this event because I scanned the exhibitor guide and there are lots of ceramics.

New for 2025, David Parr House hosts a pop-up showcase of work Kiln Cambridge.

A showcase of makers who work with clay, a raw material drawn from the earth, and who create through slow, thoughtful and skilled craft skills.

Buy directly from the maker, discover the ideas behind the work, and learn about the making process.

Over two weeks, explore beautifully crafted ceramics by thirteen talented local potters, each offering their own response to form, function, and material.

From 20 to 23 August:

Maria Adams, Julia Bruce, Jeanette Friggebo, Jenny Hewitt, Shirley Payton, David Stonehouse

From 27 to 30 August:

Zoe Hardinge, Cath Jeannot, Jennie Kimbley, Karen Marshall, The Very Less, Rachel Simpson, Amanda Smith

About Kiln

Kiln Cambridge was set up by a group of artists to help make the arts more accessible to more people in an affordable way. Their vision is to create a place where ideas and friendships flourish in a supportive artists’ community.

By sharing resources and space, they make it possible for members to enjoy all the benefits of their own studio while working in a superbly equipped and collaborative environment. Sharing makes the best use of valuable space and supports environmental sustainability.

They are a members’ ceramics studio, set up from scratch for working potters and professional artists based in Cambridge.