Women Who Make at Hardwick Hall Market Place Call Out

🗓  Saturday 30th May 2026
🕙 10am – 4pm
📍 Hardwick Hall, Doe Lea.

This spring, Derbyshire Makes invites you to be part of something special.

On Saturday 30 May 2026, the Women Who Make Festival arrives at Hardwick Hall - a place shaped by one of the most remarkable women in history, Bess of Hardwick.

Set against this extraordinary backdrop, the festival is a celebration of women’s creativity, community and shared experience - bringing together makers, artists, thinkers and audiences for a day of connection, making and conversation.

And we’re now inviting women makers, artists and creative businesses to join us.

At the heart of the festival will be a curated makers’ marketplace - a space to showcase and sell work, share stories, and connect with new audiences.

We’re looking for stallholders working across craft, design, textiles, sustainable making and creative enterprise. Whether you’re emerging or established, this is an opportunity to be part of a supportive, high-quality offer within a wider county-wide celebration of making.

This is an outdoor event. The Market Place will be in a marquee.

The festival will include:

✨ A vibrant makers’ market
✨ Talks and conversations with inspiring creatives
✨ Demonstrations and live making
✨ Creative walks exploring landscape, architecture and natural materials
✨ A large-scale Dare to Dream community sewing bee

Hardwick Hall is more than a backdrop - it is a powerful starting point.

Built by Bess of Hardwick in the late 16th century, the Hall stands as a symbol of female agency, ambition and authorship. Bess was not only a patron, but a maker in her own right - shaping spaces, commissioning textiles, and leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire.

As we approach the 500-year anniversary of Bess’s birth, this festival invites us to reflect on:

• Women’s labour and value - past and present

• Making as power, expression and survival

• Creativity as a tool for connection and change

• The hidden and visible work of women across generations

From historic tapestries to contemporary craft, from domestic skill to public voice, Hardwick offers a lens through which to explore how women’s creativity has always shaped the world - even when it hasn’t always been recognised.

Taking place outside the pay barrier, the festival is free and open to all - no National Trust membership required.

It’s designed to be welcoming, generous and participatory. Whether you come to share your work, learn something new, or simply spend time in a creative environment, there is space for you here.

Some activities, including walks and talks, will have limited capacity and may require advance booking, with full programme details to be announced soon.

If you’re a maker, artist or creative business, we’d love to hear from you.

Complete the form to register your interest.

Deadline - Midnight, Thursday 30th April.

If you are successful a member of staff will be in touch by Monday 4th May.

There is a non-refundable £25 stall deposit, and spaces will be curated to ensure a diverse and high-quality marketplace.

And if you’re planning to visit - save the date, bring a friend, and join us in celebrating the enduring power of women who make.