GREEN GRADS Returns to Manchester for a Bold New Showcase of Eco Innovation
30-09-2025
Back by popular demand, GREEN GRADS in the NORTH returns to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair for the fourth year running with a powerful new wave of young creative talent.
Taking over the quirky blue changing cubicles of Manchester’s iconic Victoria Baths (a former Edwardian swimming pool turned cultural hotspot), this year’s GREEN GRADS event will feature 25+ freshly graduated eco-activists from the 2025 cohort. Each brings bold ideas, radical materials, and a fierce dedication to healing the planet through design, craft, art and technology.
Expect the unexpected: from handbags knitted from grass and embedded with seeds, to a compostable wedding dress, to stunning materials made from coffee grounds, eggshells, algae, Peak District clay, waste wool and more.
(Leah Gasson Compostable wedding dress. Bodice from grass roots and paper and seeds that will grow.)
What’s On Show
This is a chance to meet the next generation of makers and designers shaping a more sustainable future up-close and in person.
Highlights include:
Straw-crafted vessels by Robert Radcliffe
Ceramics from local Peak District clay by Freya Boothroyd
Warm, wild pieces made from waste wool by Maddie Sturmey
Beautiful objects created from discarded textiles by Claire Malley
Plus innovative biomaterials from algae-based sculpture (Megan Morley) to egg-shell composites (Mobina Rajabimoghadam), and much more.
Don’t miss the seed-embedded fashion pieces by Leah Gasson and Amelia Wylam — designed to decompose and regenerate the earth.
(Martha Lawton An exploration of natural dyes, weaving and wool inspired by wild swimming.)
Shop the Eco Edit
New this year, the GG ECO-SHOP expertly curated by GREEN GRAD alumna Laura Wigham will be packed with affordable eco-goodies made by past and present GRADS. Think cards, prints, zines, badges, craft kits and unexpected gifts, all made with care and conscience.
What is GREEN GRADS?
Founded by design journalist Barbara Chandler, GREEN GRADS is a unique platform supporting UK graduates who use their creativity to tackle environmental challenges.
“Our vision is to fuel UK environmental action with fresh talent from UK universities.”
Said Barbara Chandler, Founder/Curator, GREEN GRADS
GREEN GRADS is now preparing its fifth cohort, with current graduates acting as ECO-SCOUTS travelling the UK in search of the most inspiring new ideas and talent.
Event Info:
GREEN GRADS in the NORTH
Part of the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair
6th –19th October 2025
Victoria Baths, Hathersage Road, Manchester M13 0FE
Tickets:
Adults: £8.50 advance / £10 on the door
Preview evening (Thurs 16 Oct, 6–9pm): £16 advance / £18 on the door
Book via Eventbrite (fees apply)
@greengradsuk
Sponsored by Great Northern Events
GREEN GRADS at YORKTON WORKSHOPS
5th – 16th November 2025
Yorkton Workshops, 1–3 Yorkton Street, London E2 8NH
Sat: 11am–7pm | Sun: 11am–6pm
Free admission – no booking required
Sponsored by Pearson Lloyd
