In the midst of a worldwide environmental crisis one small festival is making big sustainability changes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The festival has grown from a simple idea to spur creativity and give rubbish a new life, to a large community event with hundreds getting involved.
From collecting scraps and throw-away items to re-purposing things most people would happily discard, community members are piecing together sculptures and clothes for the environmental festival, happening next month.
Last year, Katherine nurse, Lauren Kaiserman, jointly won the fashion forward competition with a dress made from tyre blowouts collected from the Stuart Highway.
This year she is taking her fashion creativity one step further with a dress made from discarded children's underwear.
She has been in collection mode since last year's festival and has amassed more than 30 pairs of stretched out, holey garments.
She said the inspiration came from watching a pair of her children's underwear, which had fallen off the washing line, slowly perish in the sunlight.
The festival is great at communicating an awareness to the community in a joyful way.
- Lauren Kaiserman
"They were left in the dirt and I watched them deteriorate and that made me think about how many non-biodegradable elements are involved.
"One of the things about the festival is that it makes you think about how things are made."
Tackling the escalating waste crisis, the Junk Arts Festival is calling on residents to clean up the town and get to work on 2019 entries - there is still plenty of time.
With tonnes of unnecessary single use items and waste thrown out on a daily basis, and no three-bin recycling system in place in Katherine, the festival is an opportunity for residents to re-purpose and get creative.
More Reading:
In its 7th consecutive year, the festival showcases the diverse talents of the community and its regions.
"The Junk Arts Festival creatively tackles the issue of environmental waste reduction through promoting a zero-waste festival policy and offsetting festival emissions through the local Jawoyn Rangers Program," Katherine Regional Arts development officer Carmen Ansaldo said.
"Mambali Band from Numbulwar will headline the night, hot off the heels of their incredible tour of WOMADelaide Festival.
"And for the very first time, writing and literature will also be included in the 2019 festival program with the inclusion of the Writers and Readers Festival - Write Off."
For more information about how to get involved head to the website here.
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.