STORY Kent’ s Christmas Indies cont...
Margate: Art Meets the Marketplace
In Thanet, Jenny Duff has spent years making sure talented people do not remain hidden behind their Instagram grids. Brighter Days Markets was established in 2013 and became a Community Interest
Company in 2024, supporting East Kent makers with selling opportunities as well as the less glamorous but rather vital business of helping them develop the skills to keep going. Its academy covers everything from telling your story to selling to galleries and shops, allowing creative talent and commercial confidence to grow together. This winter, that network moves somewhere iconic as Turner
Contemporary hosts Brighter Days on 7 and 8 November before Dreamland welcomes it into the Ballroom on 5 December.
© Edward Thompson
Among the new generation thriving in Margate is ceramicist Izzy McFarlane, who began making ceramics in 2020 and now works from a converted industrial unit in town. Her hand-built world of sculptural mugs- brilliantly described as‘ tiny sculptures you can drink your morning coffee from’- butter dishes and candle sconces pulls brutalist and mid-century shapes into a far more playful world of colour.
JENNY DUFF
Canterbury: Creativity Gets a Shopfront
Canterbury might have its almighty cathedral casting a rather grand shadow over proceedings, but the city’ s creative scene has always been a bit more rebellious, not least at Rock Paper Scissors, where Liz Wellstead and Charlie Wilkie have turned independent retail into something collaborative, creative and ambitious.
The idea sparked during the pandemic, when Liz’ s work as a designer stalled and Charlie returned from nearly a decade in New York to find Canterbury’ s familiar independents disappearing and seasonal markets cancelled. Together, they created Rock Paper Scissors, a space centred on British makers and helping creative talent become sustainable business. Having spent 20 years teaching art at Canterbury College, Liz has seen firsthand how limited practical opportunities can hold students back from entering the creative industries, so giving budding innovators real-world experience now forms part of Rock Paper Scissors’ bigger picture.
Across the County: Putting Kent on the Christmas Table
Not all of Kent’ s creatives work with clay, textiles or precious metals; some spend their days fermenting, roasting, baking, brewing, pressing and distilling, which becomes particularly useful at Christmas, that gloriously gluttonous season of eating and drinking. Connecting many of them is Produced in Kent, a county-wide organisation bringing together more than 300 growers, producers, makers, retailers and hospitality businesses, and helping independents reach shops, buyers, events and customers.
At Christmas, its online festive directory becomes a jumping-off point for discovering the people behind the produce, sending shoppers directly to bakeries, vineyards, farm shops, market stalls and independent websites, so a panettone might come from a Kent micro-bakery, a bottle of wine from the vineyard where it was made or a gift discovered face-to-face at a Christmas market.
Faversham: A Shop of Endless Reinvention
At 121 West Street in Faversham sits an old listed shop called 1697, although trying to describe what kind of shop it is becomes tricky because, in the spirit of the town’ s penchant for progression, it keeps changing its mind.
Created for artists and makers to take over and make their own, Christmas turns the little shopfront into a rolling festive residency programme, beginning 9- 15 November with Poppekins and Carla van der Meer’ s colourful mission to‘ Ban the Beige,’ and running right through to Christmas Eve with Christmas at 1697 taking over from 14 December as a Christmas treasure trove of gifts.
In between those brilliant bookends, Find Pop Up brings together eight South East artists from 23- 29 November, while Field & Folk follows with artist Nadine’ s carefully curated mix of handmade ceramics, natural candles and patchwork textiles alongside seasonal ceramic workshops.
Hawkhurst: Christmas in the Glasshouse
West Kent does independents a little differently. At Water Lane near Hawkhurst, historic glasshouses, flowerbeds and an Edwardian walled garden provide the seasonal setting in place of bunting and rows of cosy cabins. The restored garden has developed into a meeting point for flowers, food, making and festive gatherings, and its Christmas Market returns from 27- 29 November.
Polished without feeling corporate( which is harder to pull off than it sounds), previous markets have showcased collectible finds and indie makers alongside local producers and small food businesses, reflecting a curatorial approach where what surrounds the stalls matters as much as what sits on them- think, less retail event, more a wander through a beautifully dressed garden that happens to contain some very tempting things.
214 • www. insidekent. co. uk