newy.com.au – Living Smart Festival will introduce a new stage for environmental talks and youth workshops at Speers Point Park on Saturday, with adventurer Beau Miles and sailor Lisa Blair headlining the free event.
The festival runs from 9am to 3pm on 19 September. Alongside the speakers, visitors can swap home-grown produce, learn about backyard food growing and get advice on reducing household food waste.
Miles will deliver a one-hour talk and question-and-answer session on the main stage, sharing experiences from his adventures and efforts to protect the environment.
Blair will appear on the new Wild Ideas stage at 10am to discuss exploration and climate action. Her sailing career has included surviving hurricane-force winds and a dismasting in the Southern Ocean, and setting a solo sailing record around Antarctica.
Young people will have a prominent role in the Wild Ideas program, which opens at 9am with the Lake Mac Youth Council panel discussion, It starts with us. Blue Minds co-founders Kal Glanznig and Cooper Chapman will lead an interactive workshop at 11am to help young people identify their strengths, build confidence and take environmental action.
Lake Macquarie mayor Adam Shultz, who will officially open the festival at 9.45am, said the program would combine environmental ideas with practical steps visitors could take at home.
For gardeners, the community Crop Swap will run in the Harvest Zone from 9am to 10am. Visitors can bring surplus herbs, fruit, vegetables, seedlings and seeds to exchange with other growers.
Purple Pear Farm will present a session on backyard permaculture, animals and food forests, while OzHarvest will explore the costs of food waste and ways households can reduce it. Morning yoga on the main stage and family-friendly activities are also on the program.
The full program and transport information are available at https://www.lakemac.com.au/Events-directory/Council-events/Living-Smart-Festival.
