CONTEMPORARY flair and traditional artisan skills are coming to the Ballarat Heritage Festival again this year with the return of the Craft Lab.<\/p>\n
The four-day event showcases 17 expert practitioners from the region as they share their knowledge and the techniques used to make different crafts.<\/p>\n
With free entry and everyone from upholsterers to spinners to shoe and armoury makers there is bound to be something for everyone.<\/p>\n
Visitors will be able to try their hand at their own crafts with help from experts as well as be able to participate in talks and demonstrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an exceptional display of handcrafted work from Ballarat and the region,\u201d said curator Amelia James.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we\u2019ve extended the offering even further with a central display which showcases 30 or so more artisans and also a couple of events which are pretty exceptional.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the week between the two weekends we will be offering workshops that people can book into with most of our artisans, so it\u2019s a little taster to try out and practice further skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the second weekend we have the back-to-back challenge which is an international wool challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWool will be taken from the sheep\u2019s back and turned into a jumper and it\u2019s a competition between two teams to do it in record time which is very exciting for visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms James said ensuring visitors have a wonderful experience is what Craft Lab it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m personally excited about is how we carefully chose our practitioners and work with them so the visitor can have the best experience possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope it inspires our visitors to keep being involved and keep supporting crafts people as it is a significant sector in our community and perhaps one which is sometimes a bit invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Craft Lab will be open Saturday, 20 May and Sunday, 21 May as well as Saturday, 27 May and Sunday, 28 May at the Ballarat Mining Exchange.<\/p>\n