Swansea's Festival of Stitch has returned to town.

After a successful launch in 2016, the festival aims to continue to encourage all age groups and all abilities to enjoy the incredibly varied range of textile art that is available today.

The Swansea Bay area is alive with individual textile artists and textile groups who will be showcasing their diverse work under the Festival’s theme for 2018, “The Sea”.

Exhibitions are being held in central Swansea and at Mumbles Pier including Swansea Museum, Civic Centre, The National Waterfront Museum, Environment Centre, Grand Theatre, Dragon Hotel, Tapestri and Volcano Theatre.

The festival will also play host to Swansea’s first ‘yarn bombing’ installation at Mumbles Pier. This is a group collaboration of keen knitters and crocheteers who are aiming to cover key parts of the Pier with colourful sea creatures and iconic images of the sea in wool.

A school’s project where primary schools from the Swansea Bay area were invited to decorate deckchairs on the theme of the sea.

A series of sell-out Masterclasses with leading textile artists throughout the Festival fortnight, with participants coming from Europe and even as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

This weekend the city will be buzzing with textile activities, including a marquee in the city centre hosting a ‘Shop of Skills’ offering free book-on-the-day sessions for both adults and children in a wide range of textile skills.

Swansea Festival of Stitch is a biennial event, organised by dedicated volunteers and supported by The City and County of Swansea.

This year the Festival is fortunate to have received funding from Awards for All, the Ashley Foundation and SCVS (Swansea Council for Voluntary Services), which has enabled the event to dramatically expand from its initial offering in 2016.

The theme of this year’s festival is “The Sea”.

The festival will run until August 24.