Encounter Festival 2023: The Creative Scrap Store Promotes Sustainable Creativity

10 July 2023

The Encounter Festival, a flagship event in Preston's cultural calendar, is set to captivate the city centre with an extraordinary celebration of outdoor arts and music.

Drawing in a staggering 50,000 attendees, including audiences, participants, and artists, the festival stands as a testament to the diverse cultural tapestry of Lancashire's central city. In 2023, the Encounter Festival aims to elevate its reputation as a leading arts festival by showcasing high-quality performances, a torchlight procession, and thought-provoking discussions on sustainable arts practice.

One of the festival's exciting initiatives is the Creative Scrap Store, a pop-up shop unit located in the Bus Station, running for four weeks from 16 August until the festival weekend taking place between 15 and 17 September. Open Thursday to Sunday each week, the Creative Scrap Store will serve as a hub for workshops, hands-on creative activities, and engaging conversations centred around sustainable arts practice and materials.

The store will be led by The Creative Principle, an esteemed collective of local artists based in Preston and the surrounding area, who will curate and deliver a range of captivating events in this unique space. Through their efforts, The Creative Principle aims to shape manufacturing processes and encourage responsible waste management within the creative industry.

In partnership with Liverpool Lantern Company, the Encounter Festival will also host a symposium on Thursday, 14 September at MET in UCLan Square. This symposium will provide a platform for artists, experts, and enthusiasts to explore new perspectives, share best practices, and delve into innovative ideas surrounding procession making activities, sustainable materials, and circular design.

Councillor Peter Kelly, Cabinet member for culture and leisure services at Preston City Council, said:

"We are pleased to support the Encounter Festival 2023, a vibrant celebration of arts, culture, and sustainability that truly showcases the essence of our city. The Creative Scrap Store, hosted by The Creative Principle, encourages participants to explore the creative possibilities of re-purposing waste materials, fostering a sense of environmental consciousness and artistic ingenuity."

From Wednesday 16 August to Sunday 17 September, The Creative Principle will be conducting a series of engaging workshops focused on the transformative potential of paper, card, and textiles. These workshops will encompass a diverse range of creative activities, including crochet and embroidery, vegan soap making, puppet making, die cutting and foiling, gift bag creating, upcycling ceramics, and Monoprinting with Oil Pastels. Participants will have the opportunity to delve into these workshops, which will be a mix of free and more in-depth sessions available for a small fee. Bookings for all workshops can be made on Eventbrite - The Creative Principal.

At the heart of The Creative Principle's initiative is the aim to foster a fresh perspective on waste materials. By encouraging visitors to explore new ways of re-purposing and reusing, the collective seeks to inspire attendees to create their own future projects, while making a positive impact on the environment.

More information

Creative Scrap Store workshop details

For a print friendly version of the programme view the Creative Scrap Store leaflet (PDF) [3MB] .

About Arts Council England 

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Arts Council England - Let's Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government's unprecedented £1.96 billion Culture Recovery Funds.  

About The Creative Principle

The Creative Principle is an artist collective dedicated to promoting sustainability and creativity through the re-purposing of waste materials. Based in the north west of England, the collective aims to inspire individuals to adopt a fresh perspective on waste, explore new creative possibilities, and make a positive impact on the environment. Through workshops, events, and collaborations, The Creative Principle invites participants to embrace sustainable creativity and develop skills for future projects of their own.