LOOMS & WEAVING FESTIVAL
7 - 8 - 9 AUGUST, IERAPETRA
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Explore our recent event:
The Looms & Weaving Festival is a three-day cultural initiative that explores weaving as an evolving form of intangible heritage, one that connects memory, embodied knowledge and contemporary practice.
Held in Ierapetra, on the southeast coast of Crete, the festival brought together intergenerational communities, artisans, educators, artists and researchers around the loom: not only as a technical tool, but as a space for transmission, dialogue and reinvention.
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From tradition to activation
This is not a festival of museum objects. Weaving here is live, shared and re-claimed. a process that unfolds through hands-on stations, children's workshops, open looms, curated exhibitions, lectures, screenings, and artistic encounters.
The programme included:
A symbolic opening ritual known as “the hanging of the warp”, led by practitioners from the village of Kritsa
Daily public weaving on floor and table looms
A workshop for children aged 6–12 (“My First Weaving”)
Masterclasses by acclaimed weaver Manolis Kouratoras (advanced techniques and production pathways)
Inkle loom workshop with Zoi Papadaki (band-making, translocal techniques)
A lecture on patterns of Eastern Crete by Popi Siganou
Film screenings from Greece, Iran and Syria on women and thread
A hidden treasure game for children using riddles, loom parts and imagination
Public forum on cultural transmission titled “Invisible Labor, Visible Art”
A full-moon closing performance with weaving, dance, projection and traditional song
All activities were free and open to the public.
They take place at the Mikrasiaton Association and the 2nd Experimental Primary School of Ierapetra.
Interwoven themes
At the heart of the festival lie the threads of:
intergenerational learning
community-rooted creation
female knowledge transmission
resistance to cultural erosion
rethinking heritage as a shared, open and transformative field
This initiative positions the loom as both an archive and a stage, where past techniques meet present questions and future potentials. In a world shaped by speed and disposability, the festival affirms the urgency and relevance of slow, crafted, collective forms of making.
The Loom & Weaving Festival By The Numbers
Overall Participation
800 unique visitors
1,500–2,000 total attendances
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Highlights
Exhibition of outstanding textiles: blankets, dowries, aprons, decorative and utilitarian pieces
3 large looms, 8 inkle looms, 4–5 tabletop looms, dozens of tools
60 participants in “Cretan Motifs” lecture
18 participants in Kouratoras masterclass
40+ in inkle loom workshop
100+ in “Invisible Work, Visible Art” panel
35+ per film screening
40–70 children in treasure hunt
50 children/day in loom workshops
200+ in final celebration
Collaborations & Volunteers
10+ cultural associations (Ierapetra, Vainia, Kritsa, Anogeia)
30+ volunteers (weavers, Girl Guides, artists, musicians)
Involvement of Anogeia Weaving School & Ergastini
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Media Coverage
30+ national features
12+ radio interviews
ANA-MPA coverage
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Social Media
306,546 views / 2 months
+1,478 new followers
6,861 interactions
Poster: 1,800 likes, 142 shares
International campaign: 32,287 views, 14,050 reach
Ads: 56,000+ reach, 137,000+ views, 64,677 impressions
Press & Media Highlights
Media coverage combined features, interviews and analyses, reflecting genuine interest and providing multiple perspectives on the festival. The public debate continued well after its conclusion, showing how the event became a reference point in the cultural conversation.
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The festival did not simply showcase a marginal craft, it proved that weaving can be a tool for social cohesion and local development.”
Anatoli – feature article - Regional Newspaper (Crete)
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“Weavers spoke about their invisible labor, unrecognized for decades, and the urgent need for institutional support to keep this living heritage alive.”
Kathimerini – National Newspaper, high circulation, leading opinion paper
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“Weaving emerged not as a folkloric remnant but as cultural capital with social and economic impact, requiring political will to be sustained.”
Protagon – National Online Media, Feature Articles & Analysis
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“In Ierapetra, weaving was not only celebrated as the past – it was redefined as the future: a language of creation, collective memory, and new opportunities for communities.”
Documento – National Newspaper & Current Affairs Media Outlet
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“Weaving, once dismissed as household labor, was presented as visible art and as a professional pathway for new generations.”
Naftemporiki – National Newspaper, Economy & Culture Coverage (online & print edition)
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“A unique art form came alive in Ierapetra: weaving left the margins and became a way for the community to reconnect with its roots, bridging generations and art forms.”
Proto Thema – Major National Newspaper, wide readership
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“Not a static exhibition, but a living experience: looms working, hands weaving, children discovering their first patterns. Ierapetra gave space for cultural heritage to breathe in the present.”
LiFO – National Lifestyle & Culture Media, strong digital reach
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“At the three-day Loom & Weaving Festival in Ierapetra, we don’t simply weave the tradition of the past — we weave the tradition of the future.”
Radio Lasithi – (live interview with Festival organizer)
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“The art of weaving comes alive in the heart of Crete — a summer festival that unites tradition, technique, creation, memory, and community.”
Avgi - National Newspaper, Culture & Politics Coverage
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“The art of weaving comes alive in the heart of Crete — transforming a centuries-old tradition into a shared experience of heritage, community, and creation.”
News247 – National Online News Portal, broad cultural reporting
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The Festival was held under the auspices and with the support of the Municipalities of Ierapetra and Anogeia, who, through their participation, were encouraged and came to see the multiple benefits of such initiatives, further recognizing weaving as a fundamental element of Cretan identity and as a cultural resource and tool that brings communities together
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The contribution of a number of local and educational institutions is also valuable: the Cooperativa "Ksobli" from Kritsa, which preserves techniques and rituals of the local weaving tradition, of the School of Weaving in Anogeia, which is addressed to students from all over Crete, and which operates within the framework of the Training and Lifelong Learning Center (K.E.DI.VI.M.) of the University of West Attica (PADA), with lessons, demonstrations and educational material.
The event is also supported by the "Ergastini" workshop, which offers creative applications with table looms and learning-friendly approaches, as well as by the active participation of the Cultural Association of Asia Minor of Ierapetra, which contribute to both the hospitality and the cultural context of the project.
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