The award-winning Festival of Thrift is set to return to its beloved home in Kirkleatham, Redcar, this summer, drawing thousands of visitors for a weekend of creativity, sustainability, and family entertainment. Scheduled for Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5, 2026, the festival will transform the historic grounds of Kirkleatham Village into a vibrant hub of ideas, imagination, and positive environmental action. This return marks the beginning of an exciting new partnership with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and a homecoming that audiences and traders have eagerly anticipated since the festival last took place at Kirkleatham in 2022.
National Recognition and Visitor Numbers
Recognised nationally as one of the UK's most innovative and inspiring environmental festivals, Festival of Thrift attracts between 25,000 and 40,000 visitors. It offers a unique blend of arts, performance, food, fashion, making, repair, and hands-on experiences designed to demonstrate that sustainable living can be joyful, creative, and accessible to everyone. Visitors can expect breathtaking outdoor performances, giant installations, interactive family experiences, live music, creative workshops, and sustainable fashion showcases. The much-loved 'Best in Show catwalk' with Wayne Hemingway MBE will also return.
Photography and Marketplace Highlights
Photographers Casey Orr and Lizzie Coombe will capture images of festival-goers in a pop-up portrait studio. A bustling marketplace will feature over 120 carefully selected traders, offering vintage treasures, handmade crafts, sustainable homewares, art, ethical products, and unique gifts. Alongside the Thrifty Market, visitors can enjoy a mouth-watering selection of street food and local producers, making the festival one of the region's most vibrant destinations for food, ethical shopping, and discovery.
Global Streets Partnership and UK Premiere
This year, Festival of Thrift is part of Global Streets, a national partnership that brings remarkable work from around the world to Tees Valley. One of the programme highlights is the UK premiere of 'I have no name / Yo no tengo nombre', a powerful and thought-provoking installation by Spanish arts collective El Conde De Torrefiel. The installation invites visitors to imagine what nature has to say to humans today. The relationship between people and the natural world will be a thread running throughout much of this year's programme.
Woodland Tribe Collaboration
Another programme highlight is the festival's collaboration with Woodland Tribe. Fresh from acclaimed projects at Tate Modern and Stonehenge, Woodland Tribe will invite children and families to construct with tools and wood a play structure of their dreams. Part adventure playground and part act of collective imagination, the evolving giant wooden ship structure will become a place where creativity, collaboration, and play take centre stage. Set against the backdrop of one of the North East's most beautiful heritage sites, the festival offers visitors the chance to experience Kirkleatham's historic buildings, green spaces, and stunning Walled Garden while enjoying hundreds of free activities throughout the weekend.
Director's Vision and Council Support
Festival of Thrift director Tanya Steinhauser said: "Returning to Kirkleatham feels incredibly special. This site holds so many wonderful memories for our audiences and partners. Festival of Thrift has always been about bringing people together to imagine a greener, fairer and more joyful future, and there could not be a better place to do that than here in Redcar and Cleveland. This year's programme celebrates creativity, community and practical action. From internationally acclaimed artists and extraordinary outdoor experiences to independent traders, street food and hands-on making, Festival of Thrift demonstrates that sustainable living can be exciting, inspiring and full of joy."
Councillor Alec Brown, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "We are delighted to welcome Festival of Thrift back to Kirkleatham. The festival brings significant cultural, social and economic benefits to the borough and showcases Redcar and Cleveland as a place of creativity, innovation and ambition."
Free Admission and Sustainable Travel
Festival of Thrift remains free to attend and continues its mission of inspiring positive action through creativity, culture, and community. Visitors are encouraged to travel sustainably where possible and to come ready to explore, create, learn, and celebrate. The festival takes place at Kirkleatham, North Yorkshire.
