Member Article

WI celebrates centenary with Fair in Yorkshire

The Women’s Institute is celebrating one hundred years of achievements with a fun-filled four day event held in Yorkshire.

The WI Centennial Fair, held from 3 – 6 September 2015 at the Harrogate International Centre, is one of the top events taking place during a year of WI centenary celebrations. Also open to non-members, the event provides an opportunity for women to be inspired and learn new skills. It is planned to become a major annual occurrence with up to 18,000 visitors expected in its inauguration.

Shirry Liram, director of the WI Centennial Fair, said: “Harrogate is the perfect location to launch this event as the facilities at the Harrogate International Centre are excellent. With the space available we’re able to set up four different seminar theatres and we think our visitors will really enjoy this interactive element to the fair. Our UK-wide exhibitors, speakers and visitors will be welcomed by Harrogate’s community and a thriving local WI committee.”

“It’s set to be a fantastic atmosphere with WI Members celebrating, while newcomers can visit the official WI stand to find out more about the wonderful work the WI does in encouraging women to work together, skill-share and campaign,” added Shirry.

As the first event of its kind, with over 270 exhibitors, craft workshops, cooking demonstrations and lifestyle seminars from names such as Dr Hilary Jones and an underlying theme of strong inspirational women with speakers including Dr Helen Pankhurst, Kate Adie, Aggie MacKenzie and Louisa Fletcher, it is a unique celebration which embodies the WI in its centenary year

“We’re really excited to be marking 100 years of the WI with the Centennial Fair in Harrogate. The WI was originally formed to encourage and support women during the First World War and now, a century later, it’s about providing women with the opportunity to take part in activities and build new skills, which is what the fair is all about,” said Janice Langley, National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) Chair.

Local exhibitors include York’s family-run, farm-based sloe gin producer Sloemotion, Claire Baxter Fine Art from Harrogate, who specialises in quirky oil paintings and greetings cards and Jill Ford Ceramics, based in Ellerton and creator of coastal and winter themed ceramic homeware.

Joining them will be carefully selected exhibitors sharing the best of hand-crafted goods and jewellery, ethical homeware and textiles, artisan food and drink, cookery and gardening equipment and travel lifestyle experiences.

Throughout the four day event visitors will be able to enjoy over 150 hands-on workshops and seminars. Highlights include The Create and Craft Theatre, sponsored by Create and Craft TV, where demonstrators include Great British Sewing Bee’s Jenniffer Taylor and Stuart Hillard. The Live Kitchen Theatre will be hosting live demonstrations from names including Great British Bake Off finalist Howard Middleton, Prashad’s Kaushy Patel and Bettys Cookery School’s Lisa Bennison.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a relaxing break at the ‘retiresavvy Tearoom & Lounge’ with refreshments and a chance to meet the team. retiresavvy.co.uk is a new online community launched by Skipton Building Society earlier this year with a goal to inform and inspire, demystify retirement and help people achieve the retirements they aspire to. Within the Tearoom Lounge visitors will have the opportunity to win prizes by taking part in the poll of the day while exploring their futures on the website’s new ‘Retirement DNA’ app to find out what kind of retiree they might be. Sessions will also be held in the lounge with retiresavvy bloggers, experts and celebrities will be sharing insights on getting the most out of retirement.

Advance tickets to the WI Centennial Fair are priced at £11.50 for WI members, £13.75 for non-members and £7 for children. To find out more about group packages and to book tickets, visit www.thewishow.com/tickets or call 0844 848 0155. For more information about the event visit. www.thewishow.com.

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