Festival of Thrift is launching ‘Fix it Fortnight’ on 1st February (2021). The interactive, digital programme will feature a host of online tutorials, debates, tips and tricks and downloadable toolkits to support a more sustainable lifestyle.
It comes following its online festival that replaced the planned live event in September, 2020 and attracted an international audience. Since then, organisers have been awarded a grant as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), administered by Arts Council England to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
Festival director, Stella Hall, explains: “The pandemic has been brutal to all festivals and outdoor events and sadly many won’t survive this. What the grant has given us is wiggle room to keep developing initiatives beyond the physical festival to keep sustainable living at the forefront of our minds.
“By offering more activities online throughout the year, we are also making our organisation more sustainable and a lot more accessible to the nation which will hopefully get more people talking and making changes to their lifestyles – big or small.
“It’s great to see so many people wanting to be involved and pledging to fix things during the fortnight, this will help more people understand how easy and simple living more sustainably can be. Whether you have an old bike sitting in the garage or a drawer full of mobile phones, there will be something you can tune in and find out how to fix.”
‘Fix it Fortnight’ is one of four digital campaigns Festival of Thrift will run this year and will be packed with activities for everyone to enjoy including fun sessions for all the family, hosted by Little Inventors and Noisy Toys. In addition, The Great Tech Debate featuring Microsoft, The Restart Project and techUK will unpick how our digital appetite is affecting our planet. Fix it Café will also be on-hand with live fixing sessions to show people that fixing things isn’t as hard as it seems.
Hall continued: “Although this is intended to be fun and something that everyone can enjoy during this difficult time, it is important to remember that the planet is broken, it needs fixing and so does our attitude to waste and how we think about objects in our homes and saving things from landfill. We can each do something – include encouraging manufacturers to make things easier to fix in the first place!”
Festival of Thrift is a CIC and has been running since 2012. It ordinarily attracts over 35,000 people to its one-day event in Kirkleatham.
‘Fix it Fortnight’ will run from 1st – 14th February 2021 and can be accessed here: www.festivalofthrift.co.uk . People can also join the conversation on social media by using and following hashtags: #FixItFortnight #ThriftFest and following @thriftffest and https://fb.me/e/2fVQnoOlV