Workshops

What’s Your Big Idea? A Silkscreen Workshop with Jo Norman

Join artist Jo Norman for a lively, hands-on workshop inspired by the conversations, questions and creativity of Big Brue Festival. Participants will develop their own idea into a bold silkscreen poster, experimenting with words, images and graphic composition. Suitable for ages 10 and over, with no previous experience required. Places are limited to 15 participants. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Jo Norman

AI & Creativity, with Emma Bleasdale

What happens when artificial intelligence becomes part of the creative process? Led by Emma Bleasdale of Modern Way, this practical workshop invites participants to explore accessible AI tools and discover new ways to generate, develop and play with ideas. No technical expertise is required, just curiosity and a willingness to experiment. Bring a fully charged smartphone and prepare to look at creativity from a fresh perspective. Suitable for adults. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Emma Bleasdale, Modern Way

The Echoing Air Ensemble – Protest Songs

A live performance workshop exploring protest songs with The Echoing Air Ensemble. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: The Echoing Air Ensemble

How to Have a Jolly Good Argument, with Sophie Docker

How can we disagree without falling into judgement, blame or shame? Drawing on principles of nonviolence and conflict transformation, Sophie Docker introduces a practical framework for communicating with greater honesty, empathy and respect. This interactive session will help participants move beyond the blame game, understand what really matters and build more meaningful relationships. Suitable for adults, parents, grandparents, carers and young people aged seven and over. Families with younger children are also welcome. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Sophie Docker

Growing Up Human, with Fam Studio × Moral Imaginations

What does it mean to grow up human in the age of AI? Hosted by Fam Studio and Moral Imaginations, this intergenerational workshop brings teenagers and parents together to move beyond predictions and fears about what technology might do to us. Guided by Phoebe Tickell and Bethany Koby, participants will use imagination and conversation to explore how we want to grow, relate and thrive, and the kind of human future we want to create together. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Fam Studio

Lit Service Department – Poems Made Together

Create poems collectively from conversations, observations, prompts and requests shared by the group. As the workshop unfolds, each new poem will be pinned up in the space, gradually forming a public archive of voices, encounters and unexpected acts of creativity. Suitable for the whole family, this collaborative session celebrates poetry as a living process, shaped through participation, exchange and the fragments of language we encounter in one another. This session lasts one hour.

Pilgrimage with Guy Hayward and Andy Pickering

Starts at the hotel, No. 1 Bruton, 1 High Street, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0AB. Start the second day at Hotel No. 1 Bruton with croissants and coffee, then walk out into the town at a slow pilgrim pace. Local historian Andy Pickering and Guy Hayward of the British Pilgrimage Trust lead a two-hour circuit through Bruton’s layers: the medieval centre, the Lower Backway where the River Brue once drove the town’s industry, the Anglo-Saxon church, and the Dovecote on the hill, looking down on the ground where an abbey became a mansion, then a park. Starts at 1 High Street, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0AB, ends at Hauser & Wirth in time for the day’s programme. The pilgrimage lasts two hours.

Organiser: Guy Hayward

Slow Scent, with Kate Neal from Commune

Explore the art of natural fragrance in this sensory workshop led by Kate Neal of Commune. Working with a selection of botanical ingredients, participants will learn the foundations of blending and discover how scent can shape mood, evoke memory and bring us into the present moment. Experiment with different notes and combinations before creating a bespoke fragrance oil to take home. Suitable for adults. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Kate Neal, Commune

Cut, Paste, Post: A Collage Workshop with Chris Roberts

Join Chris Roberts of Bruton Correspondence School to create an original collage on a blank postcard. Working with discarded photographs, magazines, newspapers, tickets, maps, vintage postcards and other found materials, participants will explore how everyday fragments can be cut up, rearranged and given new life. Open to families, this playful, hands-on workshop encourages experimentation, imagination and creative exchange. No previous experience is needed. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Chris Roberts, Bruton Correspondence School

How to Have a Jolly Good Argument, with Sophie Docker

How can we disagree without falling into judgement, blame or shame? Drawing on principles of nonviolence and conflict transformation, Sophie Docker introduces a practical framework for communicating with greater honesty, empathy and respect. This interactive session will help participants move beyond the blame game, understand what really matters and build more meaningful relationships. Suitable for adults, parents, grandparents, carers and young people aged seven and over. Families with younger children are also welcome. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Sophie Docker

No Dig with Charles Dowding

Durslade Allotments, Plot 11

Learn the foundations of no-dig growing with Charles Dowding, alongside practical guidance on creating and maintaining a weed-free growing space, starting with the soil you have. This off-site session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Charles Dowding

Bill Amberg Leather Design

Discover the craft of leatherworking with Bill Amberg, one of Britain’s leading leather designers, whose studio has championed the material for more than 40 years. Using basic hand tools and traditional techniques, participants will make a small leather card case or wallet, learning how to shape, assemble and polish its edges. A hands-on introduction to the beauty and versatility of leather, with a useful handmade object to take home. Suitable for teenagers and adults. This session lasts two hours.

Organiser: Bill Amberg

Shared Ground: Life Drawing with Kim Booker and Helena Jacobsen

Piet Oudolf Field and Radic Pavilion

Inspired by Kim Booker’s current exhibition, Flowers Still Bloom, this session explores the human figure and its relationship with the natural world. Through expressive drawing, gesture and experimental mark-making, participants will look closely at the body, the landscape and the connections between them. Open to all levels of experience, this playful workshop celebrates observation and creativity in the striking surroundings of the Piet Oudolf Field and Radic Pavilion. This session lasts one hour.

Organiser: Kim Booker, Bo Lee Gallery

Interactive Improvisation and Role-Play with Rosedean

A one-hour interactive improvisation and role-play workshop open to all participants. This session lasts 70 minutes.

Organiser: Rosedean Theatre School