Creative Earth Eco Fest 2026

Creative Earth Eco Fest at Cliffe Castle, Keighley

This little free festival sounded worth a visit and I had a very enjoyable time. 

Set in the grounds of Cliffe Castle, Keighley, Eco Fest was produced by Impressions Gallery and Photo Hub North CIC. It hoped 'to help people respond to the current environmental emergency in positive and creative ways', using plant-based art and photography activities, artist-led workshops, a sustainable fashion show (which I sadly didn't see, as it was later in the day), pop-up photo gallery, outdoor play, photo trail, wellbeing taster sessions, talks, music, dancing, food and more. 

I particularly enjoyed the photographic work on display. There were some lovely portraits, by Louis Little, of people involved in the regenerative farming movement, with little labels telling you who they were and what they did. Most encouraging reading! 

Another display was of anthotypes, created by pupils at Beechcliffe school, a local specialist school for students with complex needs. Anthotypes are eco-friendly, camera-less photographic prints created using light-sensitive plant pigments (beetroot on the left, turmeric and spinach on the right) exposed to sunlight. They are a bit like cyanotypes but not involving chemicals. 

There was a display of beautiful Ukrainian embroidery by Olha Zhydetska:

You could learn T'ai Chi or Nordic Walking, have a forest bathing experience, sketch with charcoal, explore wet felting, try out a darkroom using plant-based developers or investigate a small caravan that was a camera obscura. I'd not booked on any of the workshops so I just wandered around but it was all really friendly and uplifting - a very good day out.