Festival of Thrift organisers have unveiled a series of highlights for 2022 to mark the event’s decade of sustainable celebrations. Top of the list is the return of the festival’s nationally recognised free weekend celebration of sustainable living to Kirkleatham on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September where 50,000 people will come together and share achievable and creative ways to make the shift to thrift.
The theme for the tenth anniversary festival of ‘Our Common Wealth’ aligns with the 2022 Commonwealth Games but also explores in more depth what our own common wealth is – what do we share? What do we have in common? The Festival of Thrift team are busy finalising a programme featuring artists and activities from across the globe and much closer to home to entertain festivalgoers and highlight sustainability issues.
Next is the news that for its tenth anniversary the 2022 Festival of Thrift weekend shares dates with leading contemporary arts festival Middlesbrough Art Weekender. Planning for a double helping of creativity and culture across the Tees Valley is already underway.
A series of Festival of Thrift podcasts on sustainable topics are being released throughout the year. Recorded in the popular EnlightenTent Talks Tent at the 2021 festival and supported by Tees Valley Nature Partnership, the lively discussions have been upcycled into a thrifty podcast series. The first one focusing on sustainable architecture is available now (https://www.festivalofthrift.co.uk/the-build-up-to-greener-construction-listen-again/) with future episodes set to follow.
Conversations will continue with the Festival’s Community of Thrift team as they take to the road on three wheels and embark on a year of connecting with Tees Valley’s communities. They will be sharing the festival ethos and talking about future ideas and opportunities to get involved, creating together with a suitcase full of ideas on the back of a trike.
The Festival of Thrift Community Interest Company (CIC) board is being expanded. Three new appointments have been made and further recruitment aimed at encouraging young and underrepresented communities to join the board is also underway. Julie Ward, Nina Byrne and Mike McGrother join founding board members Stella Hall, John Orchard Wayne Hemingway MBE and Gerardine Hemingway MBE to support the festival’s future strategic direction.
Ethical enterprises such as the local makers, food producers, artisans, upcyclers, fixers and recyclers, craftspeople and artists who trade and provide workshops and entertainment will return in force for the festival weekend in September and applications for stalls will shortly reopen
Festival of Thrift’s Fashion Show, ECOuture, will return for the September festival weekend featuring a range of sustainable and slow fashion outfits created by some of the UK’s upcoming designers.
Festival of Thrift Creative Director Stella Hall said: “It seems like only yesterday that we staged the very first Festival of Thrift and now, hundreds of thousands of visitors later, our weekend celebration is nationally recognised as the best free festival focused on achievable ways to live sustainably.
“We are as excited as ever to be spreading our thrifty message but celebrating a tenth anniversary makes it extra special in 2022. Thank you to everyone who has made it what it is today – make sure please make sure you are part of our anniversary plans by signing up to our newsletter.”
The festival’s Executive Director Emma Whitenstall added: “What an exciting year we have ahead of us! The past ten years have seen Festival of Thrift expand from an annual weekend event into the amazing year-round programme of activities focusing on sustainability that reaches out locally from our Redcar home and across the UK to audiences of all backgrounds.
“We’re so proud to have been able to develop new jobs, training and employability skills for young people in our local community with many more opportunities to get involved in the very near future. Young voices are a powerful catalyst for climate action and essential for the development and growth of Thrift.”
To find out more about Festival of Thrift sign up at www.festivalofthrift.co.uk or follow the festival’s social media feeds @festivalofthrift on Facebook and Instagram and @ThriftFest on Twitter.
Festival of Thrift is funded thanks to generous support from Arts Council England, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority.
