ONE of the biggest events in the North East’s calendar is back this autumn in the Tees Valley. The fourth annual Festival of Thrift will be at the stunning new location of Kirkleatham, Redcar on 17th & 18th September 2016.
The Festival of Thrift is an award-winning, free, fun, family event. A mix of hands-on learning, making, crafting and sharing through an array of workshops, talks, films, performances and creativity with stalls selling all manner of upcycled, recycled, sustainable and thrifty goods and fabulous creative food and drink from local producers. The Festival shows how families and individuals can be sustainable, save money and have fun.
This year the Festival will be working with artists from all over the UK and concentrating on ideas and activities to support and encourage business development in recognition of Redcar’s recent steelworks closure. The programme will also include locally grown produce, food and drink inspired by the kitchen gardens and traditions at Kirkleatham. Community involvement is a key element of the Festival both on the run up to the event and over the course of the weekend. Communities will be invited to get involved, learn and share skills and ensure that the 2016 Festival is both a national and a home-grown event, representative of the resilience and diversity of Tees Valley and a real celebration of the region.
Stella Hall Festival Director said “I am delighted to be working in Redcar this year. Redcar received such a huge blow in 2015 with the demise of the steelworks which coincided with last year’s Festival. We hope to show how each of us has skills and creativity we can contribute to create a sustainable community.
“The Festival of Thrift is dedicated to shining a light on the Tees Valley, celebrating the area’s individuality and the strength of its people.
“The site is the epitome of great regeneration. Kirkleatham has a fascinating Museum collection, a stunning church and mausoleum, almshouses, railway cottages, park and woodland within walking distance. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council will be sensitively developing the stables on site with an eye to business start-ups. Together with the new Adventure playground it’s a complete gem of a festival location.”
The Festival has continued to grow in size as well as reputation. In 2015 the Festival welcomed 45,000 visitors throughout the weekend at its first home at Lingfield Point, Darlington, and scooped the Observer Ethical Award for Arts and Culture – a national coup for a home grown Festival. In the same year it won the North East Tourism Event of the Year.
This year’s Festival will invite the UKs thriftiest and most sustainable stallholders and build on some of the great programme from previous years including wandering performance and music stages, Oxglam recycled fashion shows, Bistros du Van with local and amateur chefs and Fix It Café, helping to save waste by fixing everything from a child’s music box to a broken computer. Workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, The Big Talks and Peoples’ Encyclopaedia will all be about sharing skills and showing how each of us has something special to offer. New elements will include campfire tales and woodland crafts, The Kitchen Garden Table and specially commissioned artists, to be announced in the coming months.
For more information visit http://www.festivalofthrift.co.uk/and sign up to receive email newsletters, keeping you up to date as the Festival programme develops over the next few months.