Blackburn taken over by design festival

Designer Wayne Hemingway helped set up the festival in 2016

Thousands of people have turned out for the National Festival of Making in Blackburn.

The renowned Lancashire-born designer Wayne Hemingway, who helped set up the annual event, described it as "a whole town takeover".

"Blackburn was the making of me and to do the National Festival of Making here feels very special," he said.

Workshops and artworks, including cloth sculptures, have been displayed in shops and the town hall this weekend.

Displays have been held in empty shops and galleries

As part of the event artists Stephanie Jefferies and Sarah Marsh collaborated with workers at the Herbert Parkinson textile factory in Darwen to create artwork inspired by their products.

Ms Marsh said: "We've been collecting their sensory memories so we've been asking for their smells and feelings and sounds and they've come back to us with the most poetic, beautiful memories of the vibrations of the loom."

Karen Conn, from Herbert Parkinson, said: "Everyone has really got into it, really involved in it - capturing those sensory memories and making us think about things that we don't normally do."

Sculptures are among the creations on show across Blackburn

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