A positive smorgasbord of visual arts is being served up at this year’s festival, with artists and craftspeople from around the region preparing to showcase their work.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the events that have been organised,” says artist and visual arts co-ordinator, Nola McGaul. “And so impressed with the time and effort people have put into things.”

Painters and printmakers, textile artists and sculptors, Beavers and Brownies have all been busy creating art that can be seen and enjoyed. Various workshops too, including embroidery and textile art, felt making, raku ceramics and willow sculpture will take place throughout the festival, allowing you to have a go at some of the things yourself.

Ceramicist, Chris Malins, explains. “Workshops are a fantastic way to get people involved and interested in what you do. People are always amazed with what they can do themselves too, when you show them how. It’s a wonderful learning curve.”

Exhibitions make up the main course of this visual feast, including a superb collection of photographs by the internationally renowned Guardian snapper, Don McPhee.

“He was an extraordinary photographer,” says journalist David Ward, a former colleague at the paper. “Every picture tells a story and it’s great that we’ve been able to bring this exhibition north from London so that his work can be appreciated by a wider audience”.

You can also follow an Artists’ Trail, with local artists throwing open their studio doors to let you see how they produce their art.

“We’ll be demonstrating and discussing exactly how we work,” says painter and trail co-ordinator, Emma King. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for artist’s to share their ideas and inspirations.”

Other visual highlights include a fabulous fish made entirely out of recycled metal cans that will float in the river by the Recreation Ground, and a life-size dry stone wall and wishing tree made out of felt, by international artist Claire de Ruiter.

There will also be an exhibition of photographs by the newly formed Photography Group, plus a photographic exhibition and secret sculpture garden at The White Gallery.

You can also be part of the ‘Art in Gardens’ community project, making sculptures out of recycled materials to display in your own ‘garden gallery’ during the Festival.

Finally, there will be an opportunity to reflect as we hope to build a labyrinth next to the Middlewood Way in memory of Doctor John Coope. All being well, artists Jeff Teasdale and Lorna Green will begin work on the sculpture this spring. It’s hoped that the labyrinth will be a haven for both wildlife and generations of people to come.