THE Sandford Art and Craft Fair, which took place on Crediton Town Square as part of the last day of the festival was a resounding success. Bindy Saywood, the Sandford Craft Fair co-ordinator said: “The festival has been a wonderful event to be part of.

“Although the Sandford Craft Fair is now in its 33rd year, this is the first time we have taken part in the Crediton Festival.

“We had 28 stalls selling local arts and crafts. The standard was very high. Many stallholders exhibit and sell at some of the key craft fairs, shops and galleries across Devon and the South West.

“There were lots of popular regulars from our November fair in Sandford, but we also welcomed some new faces - including local artists Charlotte Turner and Esme Cooper and printmaker Jeremy Speck from Exeter. Bosket and Bough hand-made walking sticks were as popular as ever, as were Cuffy and Son’s metal work from the Quay in Exeter.

“We had a wonderful range of textiles, jewellery, art, prints, pottery, glass, leather and iron work.”

In the central craft activity area “Paint Pots of Devon” provided the opportunity to decorate pottery whilst Sandford Playgroup went along with their popular badge making machine.

Dominic from The Turning Tides Project, which promotes equal access to music, arts and life, ran its #inclusiveInk art activity. The image at the top of its website has been split over 200 canvases and people from the community are being invited to paint and decorate the canvasses.

Also in the centre of the activity area was the covered seating area for the Yarn bombing challenge. This was a collaboration between The Turning Tides Project and The White Room, a creative space in Sandford.

Bindy, with her White Room hat on, explained that wool had been donated by Evans Newsagents and that she and Abi from Turning Tides had pulled together a team of volunteers from across the community who went along to share their knitting and crochet skills in order to create enough crochet and knitted pieces to decorate one of the trees on the edge of the town square before the final performance in the evening.

She added: “Stallholders, Jane and Sheila from ‘Stitched Up’, said they’d enjoyed being able to be part of this challenge.

“Knitting needles and wool were handed to any willing individuals, stallholders included, whilst those who couldn’t knit or crochet were encouraged to sit and have-a-go.”

Bindy added: “So many people enjoyed this aspect of the craft fair.

“Working with the Turning Tides Project has been an inspiration and a joy. We all had a great time and the sense of community spirit was wonderful with a great mix of people coming together and feeling part of the finished product.

“By the end of the craft fair at 3pm we had enough to wrap around a tree on the Square and also the back of the bench beside it.”

Throughout the craft fair music was provided by local musicians as part of Busk It!

Bindy commented that: “All the stallholders said what a lovely and successful day they had had and that the music and craft activities, along with a bit of sunshine and no rain, all really added to the atmosphere.”

She went on to say that: “It wouldn’t have been such a lovely event without Busk It! and their performers.

“We were also joined by the 30-strong Glorious Chorus Choir from South Devon who then went on to perform in Newcombes Meadow. It was lovely, too, that our event had been timetabled to run alongside the Family Fun Day in Newcombes Meadow. We kept hearing what a great job Sarah Preece and her amazing team were doing with lots of friends, families and volunteers moving between the two events.”

Bindy thanked all those who provided refreshments and the Crediton Town Team and the Crediton Arts Centre for supporting the event.

She ended by saying: “I’m hoping that following the success of last Saturday we may be invited back for the next festival in two years time.”

All profits raised from the craft fair are going to the British Red Cross London Fire Relief Fund.

Alan Quick