The Festival of Thrift was launched last year at Lingfield Point in Darlington, with the aim of showing just how much fun and creativity there is to be found in living thriftily and sustainably. Thrifting, the idea of creating something yourself or ‘make-do-and-mend’-ing has definitely seen a huge revival over the past few years and this is something that the festival celebrates wholeheartedly.

The team behind this fantastic event includes Co-Curators Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, Festival Director Stella Hall and John Orchard, a Director of Marchday, owners of Lingfield Point. When speaking about the festival, Wayne said: “The success of last year proves even further that thrift is not just a flash in the pan but a set of values applied to the way you live your life. Thrift has become a vital, contemporary movement reflecting traditional values, and it’s evolving each day as our needs and the needs of our planet change”.

Activities at last year’s festival included sewing, dancing, foraging, playing, music-making, hula-hooping, theatre, gardening, upcycling, eating, bargain-hunting, learning, oven-making, quilting, baking, crafting – and plenty of inspiring talks on sustainable topics taking place. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I must admit that I couldn’t actually go to last year’s event (because we had a family party following our wedding) but the excellent news is that the festival will be returning to Lingfield Point in September this year!

As part of the launch for the 2014 Festival of Thrift, the Festival of Thrift’s ‘School of Thrift’ has been set up online at their Google+ page. Here you will find expert advice from the lovely people at Festival of Thrift, plus they have recruited some fantastic bloggers to share their ideas and tips about how to upcycle and generally lead a more thrifty life. Throughout the past week, contributors to the School of Thrift have been announced and these bloggers include:

Vicky from The Owl and the Accordion (I absolutely love her style and have been following her on Instagram for a while now)

Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary (possibly Britain’s most Northerly food blog – the photos will make you hungry just looking at them!)

Sarah from Drawn Threads (who has declared 2014 her ‘Year of Thrift’ – find out more on her blog!)

Kim from Witchmountain (based in the one of the most glorious parts of the UK, the North York Moors, she’s one super-crafty lady!)

Karen is an international contributor to the School of Thrift, and she makes amazing videos with her husband, Danny, of their thrifted makes in Australia – see them on her YouTube page.

And the next contributor is…me!  Yay! I’m so excited to be a part of this wonderful project alongside some really talented people. It has been brilliant to find out who else is involved and to meet new bloggers, crafters, artists and thrifters. And there are so many more to come! I’m already planning some exciting projects, so stay tuned…

The Festival of Thrift takes place on Saturday September 27 & Sunday September 28 2014 at Lingfield Point, Darlington. You can find out more and sign up for updates at the Festival of Thrift website. I hope that the van is there this year – I’d like to have afternoon tea in it too!

All photos courtesy of Festival of Thrift 2013.

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