The event features Australian knitting teacher Pru Raymond, alongside keynote speakers Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole, Auckland-based crochet artists and creators of Wharenui Harikoa, whose work has been exhibited in multiple museums, exploring identity, storytelling and belonging through fibre.
Organiser Katie Andrews says the event is also expected to bring visitors into Napier and support local hospitality businesses.
“This isn’t just about wool,” she said.
“It’s about building community. It’s about people feeling seen, valued and included exactly as they are. Knitting and crochet? That’s just the doorway in.”
Organiser Katie Andrews highlights the focus on building community and celebrating New Zealand’s wool heritage.
She said the idea grew after she moved her yarn business, The Knit Nook, online, leaving fewer opportunities for people to meet in person.
“We spend so much of our lives working, scrolling, and being busy,” she said.
“This is an invitation to slow down, make something with your hands, and be around other people doing the same thing. It’s meant to be fun.”
Andrews said the event also aims to connect fibre arts to New Zealand’s wool heritage.
“There’s something grounding about working with wool,” she said.
“It connects us to the land, to the people who produce it, and to generations before us who made what they needed by hand.”
Wool in the Bay will run from Saturday to Sunday, with tickets available online.