01
Originality of work
Pieces you have designed or made yourself, in editions you control. Resold wholesale goods, third-party prints, and high-volume craft imports are not in scope — the festival is curated craft, not a market.
Exhibitors & Apply
The 2024 lineup. The 2025 open call.
Last August, 184 independent makers turned Lyme Regis into a ten-day open-air gallery — from printmakers in Georgian shopfronts to ceramicists on the Cobb and invited sculptors on the seafront lawn. Applications are now open for the next edition on Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
From the 2024 programme
A working harbour turned gallery, for ten days every August.
Twenty-seven venues across the town — from the Town Mill courtyard to clifftop gardens, the Marine Theatre, and the working boatshed on the Cobb. Below, a cross-section of last year's disciplines.
24 invited makers from the Royal Society of Sculptors
Programming partner since 2019 — shown on the seafront lawn and along the Cobb.
Wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware
From functional tableware to one-off vessels — 38 ceramicists in the 2024 lineup.
Etching, linocut, screen print
Original editions shown in the Georgian shopfronts along Broad Street.
Painting and mixed media across 12 indoor venues
Marine Theatre, Town Mill, and a dozen town-centre rooms converted for ten days.
Who we accept
Three things the panel looks for.
We welcome independent makers, ceramicists, painters, printmakers, sculptors, photographers, illustrators, galleries representing living artists, and Dorset artisan food producers. Before you apply, read the three pillars below.
02
Craft and material honesty
The panel is drawn from practising makers and curators. We are looking for considered material choices — thrown clay, etched plate, patinated bronze, hand-pulled screen, hand-stitched textile — rather than mass-produced decoration.
03
Connection to the Jurassic Coast story
Every year we programme alongside the Dorset Wildlife Trust and the UNESCO Jurassic Coast team. Work that responds — loosely or directly — to the coast, the cliffs, the sea, or the town's working harbour is welcome.
How it works
From application form to confirmed slot.
The selection process is run by a five-person panel chaired by a practising maker and including two trustees, the festival director, and our programming partner liaison.
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Submit the application form
A short online form covering your practice, last three years' exhibiting history, and eight images of current work. There is no application fee. Decisions are made twice for the 2025 edition.
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Panel review
Your application is read against the three pillars by the full panel. You will receive a written outcome by email — a yes, a waitlist offer, or a no with a paragraph of feedback.
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Studio visit if shortlisted
Shortlisted Dorset and South West makers are offered a relaxed studio visit from a panel member. Makers travelling from further afield will have a video call in place of a visit.
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Final confirmation and venue match
Confirmed makers are matched to one of the 27 venues by the festival team — courtyard, shopfront, seafront lawn, indoor gallery, or boatshed — and sent the full exhibitor pack.
By the numbers
An established platform, not a speculative event.
184
Exhibiting artists across the 2024 programme — the largest lineup to date.
27
Venues across Lyme Regis — from Town Mill to the boatshed on the Cobb.
31,400
Visitors over the 10-day run in 2023 — a record attendance for the festival.
£42k
Awarded in 2024 by Arts Council England's National Lottery Project Grants.
I have shown at county shows and small galleries for fifteen years, but the Lyme Regis festival is the first time my work has sat against the cliffs that inspired it. People came back three times — once to look, once to bring a friend, once to buy. By Sunday I had sold everything I had brought and a waiting list for the work still on the kiln shelf.