The BIG Upcycle is an event designed to promote the upcycling movement in Ireland. It will consist of a weekend market & talks from the makers & designers. The first event kicks off 23rd-25th August in Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin. The Market will give Ireland’s upcyclers a platform to showcase, promote & sell their work and to open peoples eyes to all the possibilities that upcycling brings.
The Big Upcycle will launch on 23rd August with an evening of talks from the makers & an exhibition of the Upcycled Competition finalists. This competition opens as of 27th June.
Submissions must be a minimum of 80% upcycled materials & produced in an environmentally sound way.
Entries will be judged by a panel: including Mr Keiron Phillips, Green Business Project Manager EPA, Moira Byrne, Environmental Awareness Officer, Wicklow CoCo & The Big Upcycle organisers – Lynn Haughton & Gwen Jeffares. There will be great prizes up for grabs, including cash prizes & a weeks stay at Ballyhass Lakes, Mallow.
The overall winner will also get a specially made upcycled trophy! For more details & to register your interest email thebigupcycle@gmail.com
The launch promises an exciting start to The Big Upcycle Market – which will be held on a regular basis. This will give a solid platform to Irelands upcyclers & help to encourage consumers to buy upcycled goods. Up & coming upcyclers will be given the opportunity to showcase their product on the Big Starter Stall – encouraging new environmentally creative businesses to start and to grow.
The forces behind The Big Upcycle are Lynn Haughton & Gwen Jeffares
Lynn is a self confessed hoarder with a love of creating something new from something with a past. She has a background working in the Property Market & Interior Design. Combining the two Lynn started her own business updating properties for the sales & rental market. Horrified by what others considered useless and ‘for the dump’ during renovations, Lynn set about rescuing & transforming these unwanted items. With a strong passion to shift society’s mindset towards a more resourceful approach to waste, Lynn set up www.theupcyclemovement.com to promote the global movement & inspire others by the endless design possibilities & waste solutions.
Gwen is a costume designer who remakes and restyles vintage clothing and headwear under the label of ‘Stitches be Crazy’. In 2012 Gwen noticed a lack of quality outlets for high end craftspeople within her own locality and decided to organise her own Artisan Gift Fair – Boutique Bray. It was during the Christmas and Easter markets that she noticed that many of the craftspeople who sold at her fairs were talented Upcyclers even though many of them would have been unfamiliar with the term. She decided then that she wanted to boost upcycling to make it a household concept.
The pair recognised they were a good match to join forces & showcase upcycling and to bring its message to a larger audience.
23rd – 25th August 2013
Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin
The BIG Launch 7pm – 10.30pm 23rd Aug 2013
The BIG Upcycle Market 11am – 6pm 24th&25th Aug 2013
Are you an upcycler and interested in trading at our market? See here for details.
