Festival of Quilts 2025
The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK is Europe’s largest patchwork festival. I visited this year and was thoroughly impressed by the quilt show, education, and vending. Plus I have some tips and tricks if you are planning your own trip to the show.
The Festival of Quilts has been on my creative bucket list for years. It’s hosted in my favorite country (I’m a massive Anglophile), plus it has a fabulous reputation of just being a really good show. As an educator, I was attracted to their large education program, and I knew it would be a fabulous show for me to teach at as well. I connected with the FOQ folks at QuiltCon 2024, and I was delighted to make the trip this year.
Basic Information
The Festival of Quilts is hosted each summer in Birmingham, UK (middle England) at the massive NEC Convention Center. It was founded in 2003 and is now the largest quilt show in Europe. It is known for its comprehensive education program, large vendor hall, and wide variety of exhibits.
Octopus by Inmaculada Gabaldon
Quilt Show
The Festival of Quilts includes a massive quilt show. FOQ aims to hang and judge every quilt entered, and thus a whopping 1200+ are displayed each year. There are 15 different categories, including youth and 3-D, making this an impressively diverse show as well.
My primary show each year is QuiltCon, and it was a new experience to take in such a large show that was not primarily modern quilts. I loved seeing such a variety of styles, techniques, and experimentation. I dearly love modern quilting, but without that limiting factor, my own definition of what a quilt looks like or what can be created with fabric was challenged in a wonderful way.
(Left: One Hundred and Fifty by Ilaria Harris. Right: High Plains Biker by Lesley Hutchinson)
Just as I appreciated the clear variety of styles, I also appreciated the variety of skill and experience. There was more than enough room in this show for young quilters, new quilters, and quilters who think and create in more sculptural ways. More than one quilt made my jaw hit the floor in awe, and more than one quilt moved me to tears.
(Left: Brigid Brings the Spring by Lena Pugachova. Right: Cassack Mamay by the Ukrainian Quilters Association)
There were many quilts celebrating cultural heritage a creating a piece of cultural preservation. I loved learning a little bit more about the fiber traditions and rich mythologies of places like Ukraine and Ireland.
(I just want to put a special thanks here for the quilters who made quilts about the current political crisis in the US, the threat of Fascism, and other related issues. It made me feel seen and safe. While I was in the UK, I felt like I could breathe, and that meant the world).
(Left: Bláthanna fiáine (Wild flowers) by Rebecca Ní Chonchúir. Right: Intersections by Lucie Bélanger)
As an added bonus, several Quilting Rockstars had quilts hanging in the show, and I caused a little scene with my joyful (loud) celebration!
Red Light District by Galla Grotto
Finally, I was delighted by the individual galleries hung all through the hall. These stands displayed the work of a single artist or creative collective and provided a gorgeous opportunity to see a broader range of one quilter’s creative development. Many of these quilters also had recent book releases, so it was an opportunity to meet them and purchase a signed book, too.
Educational Programming
The Festival of Quilts’ massive education program boasts over 300 workshops, classes, and lectures by teachers from all over the world. Shorter, “quick & easy” workshops are hosted in classroom stalls adjacent to the show floor and include all supplies to make it more accessible for everyone to take at least one class while attending the show. Longer classes and lectures are hosted in individual classrooms within the NEC. The educational team does a brilliant job planning and organizing the classes, provides friendly on-site support, curated a wonderfully diverse set of offerings.
Vendor Hall
It is HUGE. As I mentioned before, QuiltCon is my primary show each year, and it’s become quite a large affair over the years. However, the vendor hall at QuiltCon has nothing on the giant hall at Festival of Quilts. WOW. There are so many shops and companies represented as well as an interesting variety of products– including block printing, lincoln log-style crafting sheds, and more. This show leans more traditional, so many of the quilting fabrics do too. However, What the Fabric and a few others had modern favorites as well.
As an American visiting, I was excited to see fabrics and products different than what I can find here at home, especially treats like Liberty of London. Similar to the quilts in the show, not all the products were my go-to aesthetic, but I loved seeing new and different things! My favorite things were books and patterns by English and European designers that aren’t as common here in the US (many signed by the authors as they were at the show!) and, of course, Liberty Lawn.
Trip Planning Tips
If you are planning a trip to Festival of Quilts for next year and beyond, here’s a few tips:
Consider flying in and out of London. It will be much easier to get a direct flight, and will likely cost about the same. It’s an easy 2 hour train ride up to Birmingham, so you could spend a couple of days in London sightseeing, then make your way north. If you love/ are curious about Liberty of London, you don’t want to miss visiting their flagship store on Regent Street. Plus, you can get more yardage in the store than at the show.
If you take the train to Birmingham for the show, you’ll get off at the train station by the airport. You are basically inside the NEC when you arrive at this station because they are connected by a skybridge. There is bag check at the show, so if you are getting off the train and heading straight to Festival or leaving to go back to the airport/ London right after the show, you don’t have to store your bags at the hotel.
Research your walking path to and from the show, and be ready to get a lot of steps. The NEC is HUGE and directions are ambiguous. You will be doing a decent amount of walking just to get into the building and to the show from most of the hotels. The NEC is easiest to access from the hotels at Resorts World (the Moxy, Hilton, and Crowne Plaza). Don’t be afraid to ask for help/ directions if you get turned around!
Consider staying at one of the ResortsWorld Hotels (the Moxy, Hilton, and Crowne Plaza). ResortsWorld is a mall with a walking path around a lake. Inside the mall are all the restaurant options for the evening. Staying at ResortsWorld also makes it easier to return to your hotel in the evening. I stayed at the Ibis NEC, and while it was lovely (and a little cheaper), it was tricker to return in the evening after dark, and it was a long walk through the NEC to the show halls.
Have a plan for food. When I travel, I often pop into the grocery and grab food for easy breakfasts and lunches. To my surprise (and disappointment), there wasn’t a grocery store within walking distance of the NEC.
Breakfast: Pay the additional fee for breakfast at the hotel. The breakfasts I had were delicious and included options like fresh fruit, whole grain toast, muesli, sausage, and yogurt.
Lunch: The NEC had surprisingly good options within the show– sandwiches, coffee, tea cakes, and even a lovely little gin & fizz bar.
Dinner: The restaurants at ResortsWorld were quite good. Pretty standard stuff, but good and well priced. Consider making reservations to avoid any longer wait times after the show lets out. I also walked toward Chelmsley Wood and ate at The Vintage Inns one night, and it was delightful.
If you come in via London, consider purchasing snacks like nuts, digestives, dried fruit, crackers, etc before catching the train north for some easy in-room options.
Bring an extra bag. I know it sounds dramatic, but you’ll want an extra duffle or roller to bring your goodies home!
Research fun, social things happening at the show. My friend Sarah Ashford started something called Stamp Swap this year where you can make little fabric stamps from cute scraps, add your Instagram handle on the back, and then trade them at the show. It was an adorable way to meet new friends and have a cutie collection of little stamp appliqués afterward! (Yes, we are talking about bringing this to QuiltCon!)
Pride by The Burton plus 6 community groups, 15 individuals. Designed by Carole Evans
Final Thoughts
I loved my experience at The Festival of Quilts, and I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that I’ll be able to return again and again. It’s well worth making a bucket list trip, especially if you can afford to add some vacation time before or after. I loved the diversity of quilts, the diversity of people (I was constantly hearing more than one language spoken at the show, which was so cool!), and the experience of such a big, well done event.
Resources
BLOG: Read my QuiltCon show reviews
Looking for a perfect project for your Liberty fabrics? How about my Polaris quilt pattern?
