The Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) is excited to host the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) at the 2025 festival, where they will showcase their expertise in a special exhibition at Hobart Town Hall from Friday, 7 to Monday, 10 February.

This unique event will offer interactive exhibitions and demonstrations of all things knot- related, including spinning natural fibres into yarns for cord and rope making, nautical knotwork, weaving, embroidery, bowlines, and more.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from a diverse lineup of speakers, who will share their expertise on topics such as splicing a rope for towing your car, knots for climbing trees, and rigging.

The event, supported by Hobart City Council, will also feature the silliest competition to hit Hobart shores this festival—The Knotty Pun Challenge! Festival-goers are invited to write down their best knot-themed pun at the Hobart Town Hall for a chance to win a fun, knotty prize. Judging will take place on Monday at 12.30 pm by local magical knot trickster Daryl Peebles.

Event organiser and Australis Knots founder Barbara Frankel said, “We want everyone to experience the joy of knot tying and the curiosity and creativity it inspires.” The exhibition is supported by volunteers from the International Guild of Knot Tyers (from interstate and overseas), Hand Weavers Spinners and Dyers Guild of Tasmania, Hobart Embroiderers’ Guild, Australian Lace Guild, local knotty enthusiasts and the Hobart Book Shop.

For more information about the event.

For media enquiries, please contact Scarlet English at 0412 682 060 or email
scarlet@awbf.org.au

AT A GLANCE (for event calendars)

WHAT Tasmania’s largest free festival & the largest celebration of wooden boats & maritime culture in the Southern Hemisphere.
WHERE Hobart Waterfront, Tasmania WHEN 7 – 10 February 2025
INFO awbf2025.org.au CONTACT office@awbf.org.au or (03) 6223 3375