Best Event
in association with Tesco
WINNER Cape Farewell – SHIFT Festival at the Southbank Centre
SHIFT was a week-long climate-focused festival of live music, comedy, theatre and art at the Southbank Centre, London in January 2010. It involved artists who had been taken by scientists on Cape Farewell expeditions to the Arctic, to see the effects of climate change. All events were free and aimed to use artistic expression to stimulate new visions of a viable future. Performers included comedian Marcus Brigstocke, impressionist Alistair McGowan and singer KT Tunstall. Leading architects, scientists, politicians and fashion designers also took part and there was a special youth day. The debates were screened online by the Open University, and panel discussions were continued over the web. http://tinyurl.com/67xs4jk
Phakama & Transition Town Tooting – The Trashcatchers Carnival
The Trashcatchers Carnival was held in Tooting, South London in July 2010. Everything – the floats, costumes, sculptures and musical instruments – was made entirely from rubbish. Run to explore climate change, over 1,000 people were involved in creating beauty from trash. Storytelling, art, science and performance were used to collectively imagine a sustainable world. Floats included a six-metre high Green Giant, a mythic bird carrying an egg as a seed for the future, a giant turtle, a seven-seater bicycle and a Lady of Tooting. It has now spread to Australia, with Adelaide planning its own Trashcatchers Carnival, so the idea may become an international phenomenon. http://tinyurl.com/6y5v4gl
Yorkshire & Humber Love Food Hate Waste – Feed 1000 at the University of Hull
Feed 1000 at the University of Hull took the amount of food wasted by a single UK household in one year and turned it into 1,000 free tasty meals for students, eaten on the spot in a huge marquee. The aim of Yorkshire & Humber’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign was to catalyse behaviour change by illustrating the massive levels of food waste in the UK – 1,000 meals per household! A field kitchen staffed by students from Hull Catering College presented fun ways to use up leftovers alongside storage and meal planning advice. Over 2,000 students attended and the event is going to be replicated in five other universities. http://www.foodawarecic.org.uk/love-food-hate-waste.htm
Birmingham City Council – Birmingham Climate Change Festival
The Birmingham Climate Change festival in June 2010 aimed to develop a greener city, offer new opportunities to local businesses and use the issue to build cohesion amongst diverse communities and religions. There was a green circus, solar-powered fairground rides, a graffiti pledge wall, a sustainable market and a solar-powered rock concert. Stalls ran for a quarter of a mile across the city centre, with mini-villages focused on green jobs, green skills, biodiversity, transport and energy. A bra recycling campaign was used to gain press coverage, and a specially-commissioned play about climate change was seen by 5,000 school pupils. http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/climatechangefestival
