May 9, 2013 10.20 am This story is over 130 months old

European Stone Festival comes to Lincoln for first UK event

Stonemason mission: A group of craftsmen and women will meet at Lincoln Cathedral to take part in an international stonemasonry challenge.

An event dedicated to the art of stonemasonry across Europe will visit Lincoln in June, the first of its kind in the UK for a decade.

Over 100 stonemasons from Europe will gather around Lincoln Cathedral to take part in the European Stone Festival on June 21 to 23.

This is the second time the UK has hosted the annual event, with the first being around a decade ago.

Visitors will be able to watch masons on the Cathedral’s East Green from the continent and further afield, such as the US and India.

This year’s main theme for carving competition is food and farming, to match the county’s heritage.

They will have all weekend to complete their designs, putting tools down at 2.15pm on the Sunday to be judged. Prizes will be awarded for the best in each category.

After the judging, the pieces will be auctioned off to residents and businesses, with proceeds going to the Lincoln Cathedral Fabric Fund.

Cathedral works manager Carol Heidschuster said: “It’s a real privilege for the city to be hosting such an event.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to see the incredible skills of masons close up and get an understanding of the work that was involved in building our city’s incredible cathedral.

“This traditional craft has changed little since the days the cathedral was built so to watch the masons in the shadow of the cathedral should be quite something.”

The festival takes place at the same time as Lincoln Castle’s 1000 Years of Traditional Crafts, and the Select Lincolnshire food fair on Castle Hill joining the two events together.