You’ve probably heard about the Rs of living more sustainably: refuse, reduce, recycle, repair and reuse. Now it’s time to reset.
Fed Square’s free sustainability-focused RESET Festival returns to Melbourne this spring, running across September into the school holidays. The program is designed to make greener living a whole lot more fun – think live music, workshops, swaps, outdoor cinema, family activities and plenty of creative ways to live better every day.
Get to the Planting Party on September 5, featuring live music, food, a plant market, workshops and hands-on activities at the Skyline Car Park and Test Garden. It’s also marks the end of a month-long effort to plant thousands of native plants across different Victorian sites.
On September 12, the Zero Waste Festival brings repair and mending sessions, clothes, book and fabric swaps, sustainable cooking and creative activities for kids. It culminates in the first ReWear Runway, showcasing garments transformed through repairing, reclaiming and repurposing.
Then there’s Book Doof on September 13 – essentially a daytime rave for readers. Bring a book, grab a free tea or coffee and settle in to read, journal or sketch while a DJ spins vinyl from the Atrium balcony.
The school holidays bring even more sustainable fun, including the Big Toy Swap on September 23 and upcycling workshops. Kids can also enjoy free outdoor screenings of classics including Flipper (September 30), Free Willy (October 1) and Fly Away Home (October 2).
Make sure you step inside Paper Planet, too, as Melbourne’s Polyglot Theatre celebrates 15 years since it premiered at Fed Square. From September 28 to October 2, kids can wander through towering cardboard trees and use paper, tape and their imaginations to build new creatures, costumes, stories and environments.
There’s also World Cleanup Day on September 18, when the Yarra Riverkeeper Association will lead a community clean-up along the Birrarung and surrounding public spaces. And yep, your hard work is rewarded with a free sausage sizzle.
Much of RESET Festival is completely free, so come along, learn something new, swap something old and discover that living a little greener can be surprisingly good fun. For more information, click here.
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