The Festival of Stuff 2026

The Festival of Stuff returns on Saturday 27th June! Join us for our annual, large-scale, drop-in, completely free public event - filled to the brim with delectable making madness, hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations at the Institute of Making Stratford.

In honour of UCL’s bicentenary, for this year's Festival of Stuff, we’re exploring the theme of measurement. Play with perception, test your timing and curate your calculation skills with a range of hands-on activities, from bespoke guesstimation games to scale model making.

The Festival will explore a range of measurement related activities, with opportunities for you to try your hand at inlaying ancient bog oak, making decorative chain and dipping birthday candles.

Get up close and personal (and high!) in a scissor lift, delve into mini microscopic worlds, and learn about the recording of time through fossils, accompanied by the complex rhythms of Taiko Japanese drummers.

Be sure to save Saturday, 27th June in your diary and sign up to our mailing list to receive the latest festival updates and news.

The Institute of Making is an interdisciplinary research organisation, with a Materials Library and multi-material workshop spaces. Our aim is to provide all those interested in the made world with a creative home in which to contemplate all aspects of materials and their relationship to making. Institute of Making events are free and open to all.

Please let us know if you have any access requirements in order to attend this booking by emailing members@instituteofmaking.org.uk.

Contact events@instituteofmaking.org.uk if you have any additional questions.

We look forward to seeing you soon!