A growing annual festival celebrating the work of artisan creators is gearing up to mark its tenth anniversary in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Contemporary Arts Fair, Discover: Gather: Give, is taking place at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall across Saturday 16 November (10.30am to 5pm) and Sunday 17 November (10.30am to 4pm), and is open to the general public for free.

Around 40 local artists will be showcasing their talents in line with this year’s themes, which focus on wood and bejewelled metals. Artists will be exhibiting turned wooden vases, silver, gold and mixed metal jewellery, ceramics, paintings, handmade leather journals, glass decorations and so much more.

The pop-up Golden Cup Café is also returning where visitors can enjoy tea, coffee and cake in vintage golden crockery across both days.

Local resident Judith Layhe-Cook – a trained jeweller herself - formed the festival in 2014 and has taken great joy in its growth.

She said: “Every year our artists excel with the artwork they bring to the event, and I never grow tired of seeing our visitors leaving the Town Hall with bags, paintings and artwork wrapped under their arms, happy artists leaving with less than they came with, and the chatter of children talking about how they have learnt how something is made.

“The festival has grown year-on-year via word of mouth to the point where we have gone from hosting 20 artists on a single Sunday in 2014, to now hosting double that number across two days.

“The event is a great opportunity for people to bag themselves a truly unique piece of art for their home or a gift for a loved one, while supporting local artists in the process.”

While the event is free to attend, visitors are encouraged to make a voluntary donation to local youth charity, Stratford Youth Collective, who will also be exhibiting some of their work at the festival.

Darren Tosh, Operations and Marketing Director at south Warwickshire’s tourism body Shakespeare’s England, added: “Stratford is renowned for its artistic heritage in many ways, so it’s great to see Judith putting a modern twist on this by fostering a growing community of artists with art lovers. 

“Ten years is a fabulous achievement, and we hope it turns out to be their biggest festival yet.”