New date for postponed Climate Carnival in Weston
A special green-themed Carnival that will creatively shine a light on issues around climate change will now take place in Weston-super-Mare on Sunday 2 October, 12 to 5pm at the Italian Gardens.
The event has been re-scheduled from its original September date, following the announcement of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Climate Carnival is a Weston Presents event developed by the SEE MONSTER Think Tank community initiative, funded by Arts Council England, North Somerset Council and Weston-super-Mare Town Council and supported by Culture Weston.
The free spectacle has been extended to include more family activities taking place at Weston’s Italian Gardens from midday to 5pm and featuring the ‘Actual Reality Arcade’, a life-sized, low-tech interactive game zone; ‘Circomedia’ circus skills family workshops; arts & crafts with Community Scrapstore North Somerset; Cake Ladies stilt walkers; short animation film screening ‘Where did the Bats go?’ and multi-generational, immersive audio experience ‘Weathering Together’.
The Climate Carnival will also showcase a community-led procession, gathering outside the Tropicana from 2pm for a kaleidoscopic display of environmentally-themed carnival arts along the seafront with its SEE MONSTER backdrop.
Spectacles include forest hats and carnival outfits, protest posters and placards, flying bats and trash sound-makers, alongside a shoal of skeletal fish highlighting the plight of our oceans – all created out of reused materials and made at Climate Workshops led by local and national artists throughout the summer.
Further sparking the green energy with a hip and a hop will be dancers from Weston’s Twist-o-Flex dance academy and eye-catching, nature-themed stilt walkers. The procession will culminate in the Italian Gardens with a vibrant afternoon of music, dancing, performances and a finale environmental fashion parade taking place at 4pm.
Paula Birtwistle, Culture Weston Green Champion and Producer said: “The Climate Carnival is a way to bring people together and encourage positive thinking about the future for our communities. There has been a fantastic response from local people to the series of professionally led workshops held at Weston Artspace through the summer, creating imaginative Carnival artworks from recycled materials that will form part of the Carnival procession.
“Sunday 2 October will see even more activities taking place that demonstrate how much our environment matters and how we can all play a part in caring for our precious planet.”
With fast fashion the second biggest cause of global pollution after oil, the people of Weston have been learning how to make and re-make their own fashion, which will be showcased as part of the Climate Carnival at an Environmental Fashion Parade featuring one-off, unique designs created by a host of local talent.
Catwalk creations with an environmental twist will take to the re-purposed red carpet, displayed by the people who made them to promote environmentally friendly fashion. The outfits have been created by members of the community through upcycling, transforming and re-using fabric, used clothing and materials to produce a range of eco-designs inspired by Weston and its coastline.
The fashion parade is the culmination of a series of summer ‘Weston Re-Makes It’ workshops led by local creatives, including Helen Wheelock of Create Together and Mary Morgan, community worker in Weston who has a BA in fashion and textiles and formerly arranged the Coin Street Fashion shows on London’s South Bank. Inspiration and materials were provided by Community Scrapstore North Somerset and Weston charity shops with lots of sewing bee skills on tap.
Mary Morgan said: “The ‘Weston Re-Makes It’ workshops were such a success and inspired lots of local aspiring designers to create outfits with a ‘Save Our Planet’ message that challenge the fast fashion industry. By using existing fabrics and materials to showcase skills and imagination, they have demonstrated that fashion doesn’t have to cost the earth or damage the environment.”
Finished outfits being paraded as part of the Climate Carnival include a Chanel style jacket knitted from strips of re-used duvet covers to protest garments out of waste materials and upcycling blind fabric from Community Scrapstore North Somerset.