Mudfest 2025 in Review

We've just returned from our first ever pottery show, Mudfest at Ulverston, and what a great weekend it was!

The weather was glorious all weekend and Ford Park provided a beautiful backdrop to the events. The venue, run mostly by volunteers, is a credit to Ulverston.

We had decided to camp in nearby 'Priory View' campsite, which was very peaceful and full of birdsong which delighted me. If we learned one thing this weekend it was that we need a bigger tent!

Comedy t-shirts proved a talking point!

On Friday afternoon we set up our stand. I must admit to taking a deep breath before we entered the marquee - imposter syndrome is real! However we soon got over our nerves. I must say how lovely the pottery community is. The stall holders either side of us were so kind and we chatted a lot! Please click on the photos below which will allow you to browse their websites.

Susan Wade French Ceramics

Liz McLelland Wildlife Art

Saturday was our first real test when the show opened at 10am. I must admit I was surprised by how busy it was from the start. We left it until the morning to price up our pots, which probably wasn't wise, and when I was setting up the card machine I had temporarily forgotten how to use it in my flustered state, but another stallholder quickly reminded me and after that everything went well!

We were a little nervous but did our best to engage with as many customers as possible. We met some lovely people. Two separate couples who were there as visitors were actually potters themselves and they gave us lots of good advice. I suppose what we really wanted from our first show was feedback and we got lots of it. It was interesting to see what people were attracted to. I was worried that we didn't have a cohesive colour scheme, but our customers bought pots of every colour and shape! There are certain glazes, however, that are really eye-catching and we will explore them further.

For other people just starting out and setting up their first show stall, there are a few tips I would give:

First of all, go for it! Don't doubt your abilities.

Secondly, think carefully about the presentation of your stall. We are definitely going to make some tweaks to ours.

Have some smaller items as well as large pieces - you are more likely to sell more of the smaller pieces.

Wear comfortable shoes and drink lots of water. On the second day we dispensed with shoes altogether! I also think I got a little bit dehydrated.

Don't panic if you don't sell much on the first day. We made £30 on Saturday and were wondering if we were doing the right thing, but on Sunday we sold a lot more and we were really happy to say that we covered our costs. I think that's a great achievement for our first show, and especially for Steve who has only been throwing since November. I'm really proud of him.

When the marquee closed at 4am on Sunday our emotions were those of relief and happiness. Steve is especially excited to start throwing again as the past couple of weeks have been filled with glazing and other 'shed admin' as he likes to call it. I can't wait to see what he makes next.

Now we're back from Mudfest I have the unenviable task of uploading all of the remaining pots onto the website. Although it's a slog getting them all in the online shop, we are really excited to share them with you all. There are some real beauties which will be available in the next couple of weeks.

We'll let you know when the shop has been fully updated!

Kelly and Steve xxx