HOME is where the thrift is this year for fans of the Redcar celebration of sustainable living, the Festival of Thrift.

People are being invited to ‘Thrift Your Place’ in the run up to this year’s virtual event, Thriftfest Upcycled, that goes live on September 12.

This year's digital edition opens up the festival to the whole country and replaces the large-scale annual celebration at Kirkleatham, which has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To help people get involved in creating, fixing, swapping and sharing at home ahead of the day, activity packs of ideas to all ages are available to download on the festival’s website.

Among activities are instructions for dances, costume design, recipes and cloud gazing.

The Northern Echo:

A virtual marketplace featuring a range of sustainably-focused businesses is also up and running on the website offering a wide range of upcycled, recycled and ethically produced products.

Festival director Stella Hall, said: “We’ve had to reinvent the festival this year due to Covid-19. The theme for this year’s event is energy and we’ve certainly needed it rise to this year’s challenges.

“In the true spirit of sustainability, however, we’ve repurposed the event to bring the joyful spirit of the Festival of Thrift into people’s homes instead.

The Northern Echo:

"The programme for our new digital edition on September 12, Thriftfest Upcycled, aims to help people to do some of the things they might have tried if they’d been able to visit the large-scale event we had originally planned.

“We’ve commissioned new work and, as ever, there are surprises in store. Look out for special offers from our marketplace traders on the day too.”

The Northern Echo:

The event, on Saturday, September 12, will be hosted by MC Paulus and come to life via the website with a programme that features, 13 activities , ten workshops, six talks, four demonstrations and one live stream.

To find out more, visit festivalofthrift.co.uk