Artists and craftspeople of Haworth have been urged to come out of their studios and show off their creations to the public as part of a new arts festival.

The first Making and Doing Festival (Mad) will take place across towns and villages in the South Pennines this October, with Haworth and its arts community playing a central role in the “fringe” style event.

The aim is to show off hidden talent on their home turf, and a “meet the maker” market will raise their profile.

It is part of regeneration firm Pennine Prospects’ Local Distinctiveness campaign to highlight what is unique about the area. The group feels that although there is a large amount of artistic talent in Haworth, it was sometimes confined to studios.

It wants to celebrate it publicly, showing local art does not begin and end with the Bronte sisters.

They are also inviting artists from any neighbouring areas to come forward with ideas to make the festival, planned for the weekend of October 5 and 6, as big as possible.

It will hopefully also boost local businesses like accommodation providers.

And the event will be a good taste of things to come – starting next March the area is part of a 100-day-long arts festival inspired by the Tour De France’s Yorkshire leg.

Rebecca Yorke, Pennine Prospects’ local distinctiveness co-ordinator said: “We have an incredibly rich independent creative scene in the South Pennines and this exciting new festival will showcase the best of what we have to offer. Almost anything goes – workshops, studio tours, talks, exhibitions – whatever approach best showcases local artistic talent.

“We want the festival to have a real ‘fringe’ atmosphere, with events happening simultaneously across all sorts of different venues.”

Anthony Hartley, an artist based at Haworth’s Damside Mill, said: “I think it’s a great idea – anything to get people interested in local art.

“There are quite a few artists in Haworth, so it’s good to get them on the map. If they are not on Main Street a lot of the local artists get missed, so this is a good way to get people visiting their studios.”

For more information, artists can go to southpennines.co.uk/creative.