Sunny Bank Mills’ print festival returns

Sunny Bank Mills’ annual Print Festival is back over the weekend of 1st – 2nd March in the iconic 1912 Mill in Farsley, Leeds.

The Print Festival comprises Leeds’ biggest Print Fair; free drop-in zine, bookbinding and printmaking workshops for all ages; a pop-up exhibition and workshop from the People Powered Press; Artists’ Open Studios in the Twisting, Spinning Mill and Red Lane Studios; the launch of its annual emerging artist exhibition, Ones to Watch 2025; and a drop-in to its textile Museum & Archive which houses a collection of national importance.

The Print Fair features over 60 printmakers, bookmakers, collectives and studios ready to sell their work as part of a weekend celebrating traditional and contemporary print and bookbinding techniques. Expect to see screenprints, monoprints, risographs, collagraphs, zines, hand-bound books and more. There will be a wide range of stallholders from across the UK, including Basil & Ford, Angela Hall, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Ploterre, Ellie Way, Right Nice Stuff and Concrete Nature to name but a few.

Natalie Kolowiecki, Arts Events Co-ordinator at Sunny Bank Mills, explained: “We’re very excited that our prestigious Print Festival is back.

“At the Print Fair there will be 100s of prints and books to see from a wide selection of artists, from early career zine makers to traditional printmakers.

In addition to the Print Fair, we’re delighted to welcome back The People Powered Press which will be taking over the 1912 Mill’s 3rd floor. Their exhibition ‘These Northern Types,’ at the Mills in 2018, was the first public display of their Guinness World Record holding giant letterpress printing press. This time around, their pop-up exhibition over the weekend will feature large-scale works hand-printed at their Saltaire studio including a 12-metre-wide mural, a collection of individual letters 1.5-metres tall and a photographic exhibition of works installed across Bradford and Leeds since 2021. Visitors will also have the chance to design and print their own letter on the People Powered Press’ mini press, contributing to a complete alphabet of unique designs created by them to add to the exhibition over the weekend.”

“If you want to learn a new skill or brush up on an existing one, we have a range of pre-bookable workshops happening throughout the weekend, including an Introduction to Collagraph Printing, and an Introduction to Concertina Books with Abbie Mooney, Faux Leather Journal-Making with Zoe Platt, Drypoint Printing with Cath Brooke, Let's Make Zines! with Kristyna Baczynski and an Introduction to Lino Printing with Saba Siddiqui. Some of our workshops are sold out but you will be able to book on the day if there are spaces available.”

Kolowiecki continued “If all of this is not enough, our 35-strong artist community is holding Open Studios in the Twisting, Spinning Mill and Red Lane Studios where you can meet them, find out more about what they do and buy art direct from the makers. In the Gallery, our Ones to Watch exhibition opens, showcasing the work of over 30 Yorkshire-based emerging artists. Our Museum and Archive is open to drop-in where you can find out about 180 years of cloth production and the lives of our former mill workers.”

Make a day or even a weekend of it by visiting the Print Festival. The Fair’s Craft Café will be open for cakes, savoury food, and hot and cold drinks. All the Mills usual retail and food and drink outlets will be open. U12s have free entry into the Print Fair.

For full event details: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery/print-festival-2025/

Sunny Bank Mills is one of the most exciting and respected cultural and community hubs in the Yorkshire region. It is home to an acclaimed contemporary Art Gallery, a large artists’ studio community, a textile Museum & Archive, and with many other creative independent businesses on site. It’s situated in the heart of the thriving village of Farsley in West Leeds.