Held by River of Art and Repurposing for Resilience Eurobodalla

Lanterns from Waste encourages youth to get involved in art festivals while raising community awareness about the need to move from a throw-away society.

The competition is a collaboration between Repurposing for Resilience Eurobodalla (RfR) and River of Art Festival.

They successfully applied for a grant from Festivals Australia to run the competition specifically for 16-26-year-olds.

The competition is free to enter and RfR is providing heaps of support.

The lanterns will be exhibited at the festival's main event, Luminous: Celebrate Place, on September 23, with cash prizes totalling $1350 up for grabs.

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RfR member Lisa Comthwaite said the competition was developed as an opportunity to work with youth who are often left out of festivals and events.

It is also about community education and raising awareness about the value of waste and need to move to a circular economy.

"We want people to look at ways we can reuse and repurpose items before they enter landfill and recycling streams.

"The competition has youth making lanterns from household waste that is easily accessible to them and showcasing their work at River of Art's Luminous event," Ms Comthwaite said.

RfR is offering a workshop on how to make lanterns from waste at its training room in Bodalla on July 29, 10am-3pm.

The medium will be plastic - plastic bottles, packaging straps, soft plastics, plastic conduits that electricians use and horticultural netting.

The netting is a "massive problem".

"You can't cut it and it ends up on the coast with things tangled in it," Ms Comthwaite said.

Ms Comthwaite is excited about a workshop it is holding with Arts Central in Moruya on August 12, 10am-2pm, that explores salvaged textiles.

"We intercepted T-shirts on the way to landfill to use as a medium to make lanterns," she said.

The workshops are free but register by email at rfreurobodalla@gmail.com one or two days ahead for catering purposes.

RfR will help all entrants with guidance, access to waste materials and tips and tricks from artists.

They will supply LED lighting for the lanterns and help install them at Luminous.

The lanterns will be judged by River of Art and RfR representatives with a $650 cash prize for the winner, $450 for the runner-up and $250 cash for the People's Choice Award.

Lanterns must be completed by September 9 which is when registrations for the competition close.

The River of Art Festival runs from September 15-24, with events, workshops, open studios and activities from South Durras through to Bermagui and Cobargo.

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