Courtesy of Steve Allender

It was a lovely day....

on Saturday 11 December at the Ilkley Art Market. We had 18 stalls of handmade goodies including ceramics, jewellery, textiles, photography, rag rugs, soft toys, original art, papercrafts and fimo. We would like to thank everyone who took part and gave the market such a positive and lively atmosphere.

We would also like to thank Moor Notes Community Choir for giving us a lunchtime boost by singing carols both outside and inside the venue.  They were enjoyed by both traders and visitors and sang beautifully. 

What's that they are reading in this picture? I hear you ask. Well it is the Folksy Sampler, a free newspaper packed with handmade crafts.  Below are some of our regular traders also enjoying a good read. 

Gary of Garfdale Photography

Jo from Giraffe Craft

Mary and Brian from The Old Brewery Pottery

If you want to see more people reading the Folksy Sampler (and who wouldn't?) just go to our Facebook Page by clicking on the LINK HERE.  

The winner of our best dressed stall competition was Kirsten from Quernus Crafts. Well done Kirsten! She wins a free stall at one of our events in 2011. We will be holding more promotional competitions for our traders next year. 

We will be back soon to tell you about our plans for 2011, including our exciting new venture, Hand Made at Haworth. Meanwhile, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

MoorNotes Sing at Arts Market!

Moornotes Community Choir will be singing from 12 noon at the Christmas Arts Market at Riddings Hall, Ilkley on Saturday 11 December! 

Bring the family for some lively entertainment and browse our market too. Don't forget, everything is handmade by professional designer makers. We will also have our Christmas competition with a chance to win a Christmas hamper and Trufood will be there with hot mince pies and other Christmas fayre. All this and ENTRANCE FREE!

The Christmas Arts Market will be open from 10am to 4pm at Riddings Hall, Christchurch, Riddings Road, The Grove, Ilkley LS29 9LW

Festive Christmas Market

Busy, busy, busy preparing for the next Ilkley Arts Market and I'm thinking FESTIVE! 

I've got the Christmas tree, got to get the decorations now and decide on a colour theme. Red and white? Green and gold? Scandinavian? Traditional? Contemporary? so many decisions to make here. I've already got the paper chains - lovely spotty retro looking ones that I bought from Gifts From Handpicked.

Next decision - where do I get a Christmas hamper from? Or do I make one? This is our free competition giveaway as all visitors will have a chance to win if they enter the Best Dressed Stall competition. It's simples - all they need to do is to select a stall that they believe has the best Christmas display. The entries will all be put into a hat and the winner will be drawn after the fair. The best dressed stall will get a free table at one of our 2011 arts markets.  Genius, yes?


Finally, the most difficult part - getting a choir to come and sing. We can't afford to pay but we can make a donation to the choir or to a charity of their choice. I'm still on with that task so fingers crossed (or I might just make my colleague come and sing ;0D )


Let's hope it doesn't rain (a sprinkling of snow would be nice) and that plenty of people flock to the Ilkley Arts Market on Saturday 11 December at Riddings Hall, Christchurch, Riddings Road, The Grove, Ilkley LS29 9LW. 10am to 4pm. Entrance FREE!

Your Chance to Win.....

a traditional Christmas Hamper (similar to the one shown here) at our Christmas Arts Market on Saturday 11 December!

We are holding a free entry competition at our next arts market and we are inviting all visitors to vote for their favourite Christmas stall. It's simple - just pick up a form at the entrance, browse the market and tell us which stall you think has the best display. 
All participating visitors will be entered into a draw and the winner will receive a hamper bursting with Christmas goodies.
(stall holders, their family members and organisers cannot enter). 


So we look forward to seeing you at Riddings Hall, Riddings Road, The Grove, Ilkley on Saturday 11 December from 10am to 4pm. Entrance Free. 

October Market Gift Guide

Early Christmas Shopping Saturday on 23 October at 

The Arts Market in Ilkley!

It's not too early to be thinking about your Christmas Shopping and what better place  to browse than The Ilkley Arts Market?

We have 18 fabulous designer-makers and artists all in one place and entrance is free. We also have our cosy tea room, courtesy of Trufood Catering, for cakes, sandwiches, soup and refreshments.  

Take a peek at who will be there with our October Gift Guide. (This is not a comprehensive guide)

Felt brooches, recycled gifts and paper crafts from Mrs Sew and Sew

Textile brooches and hair decorations by Daisy Florence Design

Hand built ceramics from Lesley Anne Greene

Unique greeting cards and china tea mugs designed by Quite Contrary Crafts

Sparkly jewellery courtesy of Jellibeads Jewellery

Quality photographic prints by Gary Keat Photography

Individually designed vintage and bead jewellery from Ruby Spirit Designs

Ceramic home wares designed and created by Lianne of Mellor Ware

Funky fun stocking filler animals by Quernus Crafts

Bead and ribbon jewellery by Maneggi

Original knitwear deign by One Oak Baby

Emma Garry Designs - delightful children's hats & pinafores,  sewing kits, bags and cushions.

All our designers make affordable and original gifts, ideal for that "hard to buy for" person.

Christmas Shopping Time!

It's not too early to be thinking about your Christmas Shopping and what better place to shop than the Ilkley Arts Market!

We have 20 fabulous designer-makers and artists all in one place on Saturday 23 October at Riddings Hall, Christchurch, The Grove, Ilkley from 10am to 4pm.  Entrance is free so you can save those pennies and buy your loved ones hand made for Christmas.  There will be jewellery, ceramics, textiles, photography and original art at reasonable prices.  Come and browse and, if your'e tired of shopping, treat yourself to coffee and cake at our tea room, courtesy of Trufood Catering.


Look out for our Arts Market Gift Guide....

UK Handmade

UK Handmade Magazine

We are advertising our Arts Markets in the Autumn Issue of UK Handmade.
This fabulous on-line magazine has a large readership amongst lovers of hand made goods and features the latest in designer makers and business advice.  Even better, the publication is free!  But we want to see UK-Handmade in print so please increase its readership and support the magazine by commenting on the UK Handmade blog. 

Hand Made in Ilkley!

Join us for a cup of tea and cake at

Ilkley Contemporary Arts Market &Tea Room 

on Saturday 25 September 2010

from 10am to 4pm Entrance FREE

How to get there: by train from Leeds or Bradford direct to Ilkley. Come out of the station and turn right. Cross at the zebra crossing immediately left opposite HSBC Bank. Turn right along The Grove. The fourth turning on your left is Riddings Road. Walk 100 yards up and Riddings Hall is on your right.

By bus: Buses run from Leeds, Bradford and Skipton. The bus station is next to the train station. Follow the directions as above.

By car: Follow the A65 from Skipton. Once in Ilkley turn right at Bolton Bridge Road and follow the road along The Grove. Turn right into Riddings Road. 

Follow the A65 from Leeds. Once in Ilkley travel along the Leeds Road until you get to the lights. Turn left up Brook Street. At the top turn right onto The Grove and take the third turning on the left into Riddings Road. The post code for your satnav is LS29 9LS

Parking: there is a pay and display car park in Ilkley behind The Grove or on-street parking can be found in the streets behind Riddings Road. 

Meet Our Makers!

As you will see from the links on the left we have a selection of fabulous artists and hand made artisans who also sell their work on-line.  We have many more designer/makers who showcase at our arts markets and here are some images of them in action. 

Trufood Catering

Where would we be without Megan and Ian? There would be no scones fresh from the oven, endless cups of tea, spicy home made soup or cake.

Giraffe Craft

Quirky sock toys, painted picture frames, knitted kawaii and irresistable monkeys.

Debbie Alstead Photography

Framed photographs and gretting cards, bookmarks and keyrings. check out her brilliant images of Cuba.

Farnhill Pottery

Practical pots in both  stoneware and earthenware, hand thrown by John Richardson. Look out for his "sang de boeuf" glazed dishes and bowls.

Olinda Jewellery

Eberth creates and designs on-trend jewellery, using natural stones, gemstones, shell and murano glass.  He accept commissions for that special one-off piece.

Gary Keat Photography

Gary is a fine art photographer who specialises in black and white photography. His landscape images are extremely atmospheric because of his inspired use of lighting.



Sally Storr
Sally's ceramics and glass make the ideal gift for the discerning buyer and we just love her jointed cows and sheep.

Quernus Crafts
Polymer clay artists Kirsten makes cute and clever creatures that will bring a smile to your face. she can even make a model of your pet. 

My Furoshiki
The ultimate in recyclable gift wrapping - Mich sells Japanese wrapping cloths and recyclable gift tags.


Ruby Spirit Designs
Individually created jewellery with a vintage twist. Affordable and adorable. 


Dig The Earth
Exciting giclee prints and original greeting cards.



David Starley
Fine art painter David Starley works in oils to create local landscapes. David also demonstrates his skills at our Arts Markets. 

Tony O'Connell

Local photographer, Tony has a wide range of reasonably priced images that will make an excellent gift for that "hard to buy for" person. 

Emma Garry Fabrics

Emma's cute children's pinafores are made with luscious designer fabric and she has a range of fun sewing kits too. 

We update this post regularly and you can also see more of our arts market images here on Flickr. 

Information for Traders

We receive enquiries every day from potential traders including gift and home ware sellers, franchise businesses, regular market traders and fair trade sellers.  We accept hand made and original artists only who represent themselves.

Here is some information about our markets.

We hold regular arts markets at Riddings Hall, Christchurch, The Grove, Ilkley which is a large and light church hall with a kitchen and a stage. We have up to twenty tables measuring 70” x 30” and we supply two chairs and electricity, if required. We charge £25 per table.


We accept hand made only – we do not accept fair trade, bought in or mass produced goods. We do not accept people representing other artists and we discourage table-sharing unless you are both selling similar work (not mixed items).


We expect each trader to have an up to date public liability insurance certificate and we will insist on receiving a copy of this document. We recommend PLI through Artist Newsletter.

 We publicise our markets extensively, both locally and via social media. We spend a lot of money on our printed publicity materials and we constantly assess our marketing strategy.


To apply for our arts markets is simple – please send us some jpegs of your work and a short statement. We will get back to you as soon as we can to tell you if we are the right venue for your work.


The dates for the Ilkley Arts Markets are:
Saturdays
25 September, 23 October and 11 December 2010
19 March, 28 May, 16 July, 22 October and 3 December 2011

Ilkley Arts Market

The Arts Factory will be hosting an Arts Market in Ilkley on the following dates: 
September 25 2010

October 23 2010

December 11 2010
at Riddings Hall on The Grove.What makes this market so different? It's not a craft fair but a Selling Exhibition showcasing the work of local artists and artisans. There will be painters, photographers, silver smiths, textile artists, ceramic artists and jewellers displaying their art. There will also be a tea room at the venue serving home made cakes and scones.The Arts Factory has been managing exhibitions and promoting local artists since 1999 and has recently ventured into arts markets to support the local arts economy. Entrance to all our events is FREE and everyone is welcome. The market will be from 10am to 4pm. For more details please contact Jo Whitehead on 01535 685060