Autumn Preview: Festivals, Fireside Turning, and Fresh Starts

The viaduct near the Harrogate Show in gorgeous autumn colours.

As summer fades and the workshop becomes a refuge from cooling evenings, the woodturning calendar offers some of its best events.

The AWGB Festival of Woodturning (10th-11th October, Stratford-upon-Avon) is highlight this autumn as it brings together demonstrators, traders, and turners from across the country. It's the kind of event where you can spend an entire day watching demonstrations, handling new tools, and talking with people who share your obsession. I'm planning on going for the weekend

The Harrogate Woodworking Show (13th-15th November) closes out the major show season with its traditional mix of woodturning, furniture making, and general woodwork. It's a good opportunity to see the year's new tools and equipment before the Christmas buying season.

Here at The Woodturning School, autumn brings its own rhythm. The darker mornings and earlier evenings make workshop time feel more precious.

Our class schedule continues through autumn with all the favourites: Two Day Beginners for those finally making the leap, Bowl Improvers for developing technique, Les Thorne's Skew class for those ready to tackle the misunderstood tool. Sunday Studio sessions continue for self-directed practice.

Gift vouchers become relevant again as Christmas approaches. If someone in your life has been curious about turning, a class voucher might be the nudge they need. We offer vouchers for specific classes or general amounts to be applied to any booking.

The lathe keeps turning regardless of season. But there's something particularly satisfying about making as the year draws inward. The workshop becomes a retreat, the work becomes contemplation, and the pieces you create carry the quiet energy of autumn making.

Class Recommendation: Browse our autumn class schedule and find your next project at thewoodturning.school