Taking Part in August Craft Month – Q&A

Agenda

• What is August Craft Month?
• Meet the August Craft Month team
• Highlights from August Craft Month 2025
• What’s new for August Craft Month 2026
• Key dates for August Craft Month 2026
• Applying to August Craft Month
• What you will get
• What we need from you
• Q&A

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The primary objective of all island August Craft Month is to celebrate and raise the profile (and revenues) of craft and makers across the island of Ireland through a public awareness and engagement campaign in August.

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August Craft Month - Aim

• Katherine McDonald – Craft NI Director
• Suzy O’Keefe, DCCI Head of Digital & Comms
• Victoria Nicol – August Craft Month Project Manager

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Meet the team

AUGUST CRAFT MONTH 2025 HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from August Craft Month 2025

• Over 350 craft events held across the island of Ireland
• Over 1,500 makers took part covering craft disciplines
• Over 53,000 visitors to August Craft Month events
• Over 150 items of dedicated media coverage, with a combined audience reach of 8.5 million
• Workshops, maker demonstrations and exhibitions rated most successful events

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Maker & Event Holder Feedback 2025

• “August Craft Month gives us an opportunity to take part in a national event and pushes us to organise a creative event which in turn helps us to promote and show what we have to offer to the local community”.

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• This year’s event built on the foundations of last year, with stronger sales, more workshops, and broader community engagement. Visitor feedback highlighted enjoyment of workshops and interest in seeing more demonstrations and extended exhibitions. We feel the event is growing in visibility and reputation.

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• “It has proved an invaluable contribution to my small business”.

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• “We got to chat to many people over the day, being able to show people our processes and tools really engaged people about our work”.

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Visitor Survey Feedback 2025

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2026?

What’s new for August Craft Month 2026?

• Earlier promotion to increase awareness of ACM (launched 16^th April)
• Additional marketing collateral – posters, flyers, table tents
• County-specific promotion – targeted outreach to local councils, arts offices, LEOs, hotels and tourism bodies for wider reach
• Increased support for makers & event organisers through content-specific webinars - social media and creative workshops
• Increased promotional opportunities through social media collabs, and dedicated newsletter
• Opportunities for networking to encourage collaborative promotions and cross-event trails

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KEY DATES FOR

AUGUST CRAFT MONTH 2026

Key Dates for August Craft Month 2026

• Closing date for applications: Sunday 7^th June
• Kick-off webinar for ACM participants: Wednesday 17^th June, 11am
• Launch of ACM events programme: Friday 19^th June
• Begin issuing of Digital and Print Maker Packs: week commencing Monday 22^nd June
• Social media live launch with all ACM participants: Saturday 1^st August
• Evaluation survey issued to participants: Tuesday 1^st September
• Highlights of ACM 2026 shared with participants: Wednesday 30^th September

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APPLYING TO

AUGUST CRAFT MONTH

Proposing your event

1. Check Eligibility Criteria and Terms & Conditions
2. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have public liability insurance and when necessary, have child protection training in place, Garda vetting or DBS checks.
3. Register your profile on www.augustcraftmonth.org - include engaging stories!
4. Login to add proposed events, you can add multiple events in one place.
5. Applications will be reviewed and published by the team - we will let you know once they have been reviewed.

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What are the eligibility criteria?

• Professional or semi-professional crafts people living or working on the island of Ireland, or who are proposing an event to take place on the island of Ireland
• Makers are working in one of the recognised craft disciplines listed
• All craft must be made or designed by you
• Makers demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the material with which they are working
• Makers show high levels of skill in the techniques used
• In addition, makers should have achieved at least one of the following:
• Have been practicing professionally for at least three years, or
• Have trained as an apprentice in their craft discipline, or
• Hold a degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant area.

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What type of events can you hold?

• Workshops
• Open studios
• Craft trails
• Exhibitions
• Craft talks
• Meet the maker
• Make and do
• Demonstrations
• Craft festivals
• Craft markets and fairs

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Eclectic Mix!

Example events

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• Galleries / Exhibitions – O’Connell Gallery, Mill Cove Gallery
• Classes and Workshops - NI Silver
• Online – Discover Lace in Ireland
• Collectives – Meath Made, County Antrim Open Studios
• Craft Trail - Causeway Coast Craft Trail
• Therapeutic - Sun Rises in the East, Camphill

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What makes a good event listing?

• Images: sizing, clarity and quality, permissions, content. Do not have text, logos or graphics on these images.
• On your event listing, try not to use a logo as your main image.
• Use good quality images of you and your practice, the event itself if done before, visitors engaging with your work/workshop.
• Think about who is looking at the ACM Calendar, what would they be interested in seeing?

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Listing your event

• Listing your event - be clear, who are you speaking to? Provide sufficient information on travel, accessibility and suitability. If you’re hosting at an external venue, ask them for this information ahead of time
• Why should visitors book your event? What will they get from it?
• Enrichment and learning
• Unique experiences
• Emotional connection
• Immersion and fun
• Accessibility and inclusivity

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What makes a good event listing?

• If you haven’t had professional photography taken or would like a refresher, check out the links below for some photography/video tips.
• We will email this presentation to you after the webinar.
• Using video to tell the story of your brand and your creative process with Simon Mills (2021)
• Crafts Council Spring-back talks - Video is your friend
• Crafts Council Spring-back talks - Getting noticed with good photography
• Crafts Council Spring-back talks - How to photograph your work

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SUPPORT FOR MAKERS

What is available to you

• Event listing on our online calendar of events
• PR campaign targeting local, regional and national media
• Paid social ads
• Radio ads
• Social media campaign across ACM, DCCI & CNI accounts to include regular spotlights
• The ACM team may be in touch regarding potential interviews throughout August so double check your contact information is correct!

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Maker & Event Organiser Resources

• Teaching Creative Workshops with Patricia Van Den Akker
• Crafting Content: Made Local Social Media Masterclass with Activate Vision

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Digital Pack

• How and where to use digital assets
• Logos in multiple formats
• ACM gif to include in your reels
• Digital frame to overlay with your own images
• “See you at ACM” for use in a carousel of images
• @augustcraftmonth26 #augustcraftmonth #makeseebuy

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Posted Pack

• Table Tent to display with QR code to online calendar & the visitor survey
• Posters
• Flyers

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

What we need from you

• Provide engaging images that we can use to promote your work
• Create social content, particularly on the run up to the launch of August Craft Month
• Use the hashtags #AugustCraftMonth, #MakeSeeBuy & #MadeLocal
• Use the digital assets on your social posts and tag us
• On the run up to and during your event try to take videos or images, e.g.
• Behind the scenes images/videos
• Snap-shop of a studio tour
• You at work/setting up a workshop, fair, or event
• With permissions, participants engaging in your event
• Join in our synchronised posting on Saturday 1st August

What we need from you

• Link to augustcraftmonth.org on your website
• Read emails, get involved!
• Utilise the contacts that you already have!
• Do you have a mail-chimp or email list?
• Email your followers about August Craft Month and your events!
• Are you working with a venue?
• Share the materials provided with them and encourage them to engage/promote your event with the August Craft Month materials.

What we need from you

• Tell us engaging stories about you! This information could hold interview and social media spotlight potential, for example:
• A long running, generational business or a new career change.
• Unique techniques - innovative or sustainable approaches.
• Community impact - community projects or teaching & mentoring.
• Collaborations & partnerships - craftspeople/organisations working together.
• Success stories - awards or growth & expansion.
• Cultural or historical significance - reviving or preserving traditional crafts.

What we need from you

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Next Steps

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Deadline to submit events is Sunday 7th June.

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Get in touch with us if you have any questions, have an event idea you’re not sure of or need assistance. Contact Victoria at info@augustcraftmonth.org

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Any Questions?

THANK YOU!