Make Party
20th July 2015
At the weekend I had the pleasure of joining a load of creative and crafty people in the woodlands of Kent for Make Party.
Make Party is a mini festival hosted by my good friend Sebastian Cox, you will recognise his name from our latest kitchen range which was a collaboration between him and some of our great designers here at deVOL. Me and Seb went to Lincoln University at the same time and used to DJ together in legendary grotty basement parties, the most memorable one ended with a huge water pipe bursting (because people were swinging from it) and I recall some very expensive looking DJ equipment floating past me as an angry looking fire man ran past in the other direction.
Anyway our gatherings are a little more civilised these days and Seb has been hosting the Make Party in the woods of his Dad’s farm in Kent for the last few years and I finally attended this year. The idea is that throughout the day you get involved in making, creating and crafting whatever it is you can get your hands on and then by the night everyone enjoys loads of good food, good drink and a good old dance around the bonfire.
Through his work as an eco friendly furniture designer and just generally being a really friendly and easy going guy Seb has a huge group of lovely, crafty, creative and really interesting friends, the kind that could survive in the woods with just a knife and their bare hands, which all gather together each year to make stuff in the woods. Some group events included whittling a spatula from wood, screen printing t-shirts, making your own silver ring and fine dining beneath the trees.
There was lots of improv making too and I loved how the festival evolved throughout the day as people made shelters for the night, cocktail bars, pizza ovens and furniture from chopped down trees. The food even included foraged ingredients and some slow cooked BBQ venison, which one girl had proudly shot and butchered herself!
Everyone shared food, drinks and tips and with just over 100 people there and 5 dogs, there was a great community atmosphere. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Make Party and starting to think of some new ideas of things to make and do.
