Published: March 12, 2020 | Updated: 13th March 2020
A popular vintage music and dance festival looks set to be the cleanest – and greenest – yet.
The organisers of the Shake and Stir Festival in Southbourne in June have teamed up with environmental group Sobo Wastebusters.
Festival goers are being encouraged to bring their own reusable takeaway and drink containers and eating utensils as part of the Bring Your Own Containers scheme (BYOSobo).
The aim is to make the event plastic free, promoting recycling and waste reduction.
Visitors will also be asked to take their rubbish home with them.
Sobo Wastebusters was founded by Rosie Edwards and Maria Konstanse Bruun, pictured left, in January last year to work towards Southbourne and the immediate area becoming more environmentally sustainable.
Rosie said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with the Shake and Stir team to make sure it’s a really clean and green community event that reduces the carbon footprint, as well as being a really fantastic weekend.
“We have been working for more than a year with businesses and groups in Southbourne on a whole host of environmentally friendly ideas and initiatives and this is really just a natural extension of that.
“We just want to point people in the right direction and come up with a sustainable model scheme that can be replicated elsewhere.
“We are getting great support from residents and the Southbourne business community and I feel together we are beginning to make a real difference.”
Maria added: “Big public events can be one of the worst polluters as they opt for single use.
“The fact that a big event organiser like Shake and Stir Music Festival is taking these measures and getting us onboard is an important step in the right direction when it comes to reducing waste and single use plastic at big events.
“We hope that more local event organisers will take notice and follow their example.”
Mandy Polkey, Managing Director of Stir! Events, pictured left, said: “We are really pleased to be getting help and advice from Sobo Wastebusters.
“We are also working towards securing a carbon neutral certificate, and pulling together significant recycling and green traffic and transport plans.”
The Shake and Stir Festival takes place in Fisherman’s Walk and Southbourne Grove on June 27 and 28.
