Knitters and Crocheters come together from far and wide for Alice Springs Beanie Festival

ABC NEWS (Australia)

One of Australia’s most unique festivals is underway in Alice Springs, with thousands flocking to the red centre for the annual beanie festival. It is a colourful celebration bringing knitters and crocheters together, from far and wide.

Transcript

00:00On the shortest day of the year, a beanie for every head.

00:06This is now a record-breaking beanie festival.

00:09Our 28th one is a record-breaking beanie festival.

00:12We have over 7,300 beanies.

00:15Beaniemaker Carol's love of knitting was born from necessity.

00:19When I was a child, I learned to knit when I was eight.

00:22And really, if I wanted a new jumper, I had to knit it myself from that stage.

00:26Her designs became more creative when living overseas in Scotland,

00:30stuck inside over brutal winters.

00:33It wasn't just to produce a jumper, but it was to try something new all the time,

00:38just to keep me alive, you know, my brain alive.

00:41The rules of the beanie festival are simple.

00:44It has to be wearable and it has to keep your head warm.

00:47Beyond that, pretty much anything goes.

00:50And people here are pushing the limits of what's possible with beanie technology.

00:55One of them's made all out of dog hair, which is really interesting.

01:01And then there's others, you know, with homemade spiderwebs.

01:07Locked away in a secret vault for now are the competition beanies,

01:10with the winner to be revealed tonight.

01:13So you know, but you can't tell me.

01:14I can't tell you, no.

01:16And the beaniemakers are as diverse as the beanies themselves.

01:20So a lot of the beanies in the exhibition this year

01:22have come in from primary school kids and the standard is spectacular.

01:26The knitting needles passed on to the next generation.

01:29Crocheting is absolutely the cool thing to do.

01:32I would say, yeah, if you love it, go with it.

01:36And if you're confident in being a crocheter, other people will follow along.

01:39A colourful festival helping create a tight-knit community.

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