What a weekend at Tear Up Festival!
6 September 2026
We’re not entirely sure we’ve recovered yet, but what a fantastic few days we had at Tear Up Festival!
Held in the Staffordshire countryside at the end of August, Tear Up brought together basket makers, growers, tutors and craftspeople from across the UK and much further afield for five days dedicated to weaving. We knew it was going to be busy. We’re not sure we quite appreciated just how busy!
A marquee full of willow
One of the really lovely things for us was having the opportunity to bring such a huge selection of our willow together in one place.
We grow a fantastic range of different varieties here on the Somerset Levels and, while you can see them individually on our website, there is something rather special about seeing so many different willows side by side.
The range of natural colours was quite something, from greens and yellows through reds, purples and browns, alongside our buff, white and steamed willow. So many people commented on the vibrancy of the colours and, perhaps even more noticeably, the smell. There really is nothing quite like walking into a marquee packed full of willow!
It was also a great opportunity for people to compare varieties, look closely at the differences between them and talk to us about choosing the right willow for what they wanted to make.
From Somerset to Staffordshire
Musgrove Willows supplied the willow used for the festival workshops too, and it was incredibly satisfying to see it being put to work throughout the week.
Everywhere we looked there seemed to be another basket taking shape. With so many different makers, tutors, techniques and traditions represented at Tear Up, our willow was being used in all sorts of different ways. We spend the year growing, harvesting, sorting and processing it here on the Somerset Levels, so seeing it in the hands of so many basket makers was rather special.
Of course, getting all that willow to Staffordshire was another matter.
There were pallets. Lots of pallets.
A huge thank you has to go to everyone who mucked in and helped us move bundles and get everything into the marquee. It was quite an undertaking and we certainly couldn’t have done it without all the willing hands that appeared when they were needed.
Our pre-order service proved incredibly popular too, allowing customers to order exactly what they needed beforehand and collect it from us at the festival, while still having plenty of opportunity to browse once they arrived.
And browse you certainly did!
We were absolutely delighted by how busy the Musgrove Willows stand was. It was lovely to catch up with existing customers, put faces to names and meet so many new people. We talked willow pretty much non-stop, which, fortunately, is something we’re quite good at.
Among friends
Another thing that made Tear Up particularly enjoyable was being there alongside people we work with throughout the year.
Dave Budd Handmade Tools was there with his beautiful handmade basketry tools. We’ve been working with Dave for some time and are very pleased to continue that relationship, stocking his specialist basketry tools and working together on new ideas. The quality of his work really does speak for itself, and it was great to have him there as part of the festival.
It was also a rather special weekend for our tutor Rachel Hutton, who launched her new book, Willow to Weave, at Tear Up. After many years in the making, it was lovely to see the finished book being released amongst exactly the sort of people it was written for.
Rachel was also there with her soaps, skincare and various other bits and bobs, including some of the products she makes for us here at Musgroves, as well as running willow bark soap-making workshops over the weekend.
It wouldn’t be an event without a little drama…
There was, inevitably, the odd moment of excitement.
At one point Jack managed to break the van door, resulting in him having to climb into the van to retrieve the willow from inside.
Not perhaps the unloading system we would recommend for future events, but it got the job done.
Huge credit must go to Caitlin, Zoe and Jack, who worked incredibly hard throughout. From shifting vast quantities of willow and setting everything up to answering questions, finding orders and keeping things moving when the marquee was at its busiest, it was a proper team effort.
A celebration of basketry
More than anything, Tear Up was a wonderful reminder of just how strong and enthusiastic the basketry community is.
For five days the site was full of people learning, teaching, demonstrating, talking, sharing ideas and, of course, weaving. There were internationally renowned tutors alongside makers, growers, suppliers and people who had only recently discovered basketry, all brought together by a shared enthusiasm for natural materials and traditional skills.
For us, being able to supply the willow at the heart of so much of that activity was something we were incredibly proud of. Watching bundles disappear into workshops and seeing the baskets that emerged, alongside all the conversations, new faces and familiar friends, made the considerable effort of getting everything there worthwhile.
So, a very big thank you to the Tear Up team for having us, to everyone who helped us shift what felt like several acres of Somerset into a Staffordshire marquee, and especially to every single person who came to see us, bought willow, collected an order, asked a question or simply stopped to admire the colours and enjoy that unmistakable smell.
We had a fabulous time.
Exhausting? Definitely.
Would we do it all again? Absolutely.
