Farmiloe building, base of the festival
I wasn't sure what to make of this design festival before my visit or who their target audiences were. When I arrived, I was given a wristband and map to guide myself around the area... and then I came across some men in suits, groups of Asian students, art/ design students and some (I suspect) designers.
The festival, I believe was organised to promote the design showrooms (mainly office furiture) in this area... The more interesting work was shown at the HQ of the festival, Farmiloe building, with well-known names like Tom Dixon, Innermost and SCP. Although I wasn't completely blown away by the furniture I saw, I was glad to see the effort they put into organising the event. And most of all, there were freebies everywhere! At Haworth, I was given free Haagen-Dazs ice cream and a bag of sweets... then at Ahrend, there was free alcohol as well as hog roast sandwiches (which I didn't go for).
What was really fascinating was when I chatted to an elderly couple from Cornwall who are not in the industry but told me they had a wonderful day just dropping into random showrooms and chatting to different people. They know nothing about design but nobody seem to care. They enjoyed it so much that they said they would come back again next year... It's so refreshing to meet open-minded elderly people like them, they didn't dress the part and yet they were probably most at ease and had the most fun!
Tom Dixon's new collection
Sweets corner at Haworth
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