CREATORS of a sustainability festival have announced plans, with a social distanced twist, are underway.

The organisers of the Festival of Thrift have announced the event is being repurposed and upcycled for 2020.

Alternative plans are being drawn up to replace the large-scale event scheduled for Kirkleatham, Redcar & Cleveland, in September.

The festival is being given a socially-distanced makeover to allow people to enjoy it in an alternative way.

Further details will be announced in coming weeks as the team finalises plans that are in line with corona virus guidance.

Festival of Thrift director Stella Hall said: “This has been an extraordinary year full of unforeseen challenges and hardships for all of us and, along with our great friends and partners at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, we concluded that holding a large-scale festival in Kirkleatham will not be possible this year.

“However, although our event scheduled for Kirkleatham on September 12 and 13 2020 has been officially cancelled, in true thrifty-style we have decided instead to go ahead with a repurposed festival.

“Sharing, creating, learning and building a sustainable community together are more relevant than ever. We have been inspired by how many communities have joined us and adapted to a new way of living, and we want to harness some of that creative sustainable spirit and share it with the world."

Councillor Karen King, Deputy Leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, said: “The festival looks like being every bit as good fun as the original and I love that the excellent team at the Festival of Thrift are being so true to the spirit of the project by upcycling and carrying on while responsibly sticking to any socially distancing rules.

“I’m looking forward to finding out more about the creative plans for what is really a national festival taking place right here in Redcar and Cleveland.”