Drop everything – apart from a stitch – and visit the first Inverness Loch Ness International Knitting Festival
For the next few days, Eden Court in Inverness will be the centre of an event that’s guaranteed to have visitors in stitches – an international knitting festival.
Known as the Loch Ness Knit Fest 2016, it has a packed programme of yarn-craft workshops, with expert teachers offering you the chance to brush up your skills in everything from sock knitting to Scandinavian sweater design.
Thousands of visitors from around the world are expected to descend on the Highland capital for the four-day festival which takes place until Sunday, October 2, while locals of all ages are also welcome to attend and enjoy the experience.
Highlights include presentations from legends of the knitting world including textile designer Di Gilpin and Denmark’s amazing art knitter Christel Seyfarth.
On top of all this, festival guests can browse the marketplace and crafting village – where boutique craft businesses and top hobby-crafters will be showcasing skills and selling products to help bring crafting visions to life.
Other host venues for the festival, which takes place during VisitScotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, include the luxurious Kingsmills Hotel and even Loch Ness itself, with the help of the Loch Ness by Jacobite cruise fleet.
The event is based on the Strikkefestival created by Danish international knit wear designer Christel Seyfarth, which has been running for a decade now and attracts more than 7,500 attendees from across the world to the small Danish island of Fano each year, boosting the local economy by over £4milion.
The Inverness Loch Ness International Knitting Festival will also build on local traditions of working with wool in all its forms and be managed by a collaboration of Visit Inverness Loch Ness and Christel Seyfarth art knits together with several local organisations including Cobbs, Planit Scotland and Highland Wool and Textiles. The event is supported by the Highland Council and Event Scotland.
Cobbs’ Willie Cameron, who was instrumental in bringing the festival to the area for 2016, said: “When I first heard Christel Seyfarth tell her story about her knitting festival in Fano in Denmark, I immediately thought of the Highlands and Islands and our long tradition of spinning wool, weaving and knitting.
“It made me think of our dark period in Highland history when the people were put off the land to make way for sheep as that was the currency of its day, and stimulated economic growth – but with the knitting festival, we are going to reverse that role and bring the people back in the form of international tourists.
“We hope many will come to enjoy the festival and embrace the scenery and cultural experience of the Highlands and also contribute to the economic benefit of the area, before leaving with fond memories and plans to return.”
Tickets for the Inverness Loch Ness International Knitting Festival are on sale at www.lochnessknitfest.com
