Yarnit Milton will celebrate both old and new at its first fabric festival in Milton on Saturday.
The summer fibre festival is both homage to the history of the wool industry in town and a nod to the creative work done with fibre in the contemporary southern fibre scene.
Yarnit's Heather Gordon, of Milburn, said she wanted the summer festival go beyond the stereotype of ''a bunch of old grannies sitting at home, beavering away on stuff''.
''It's better than that.
''It doesn't have to be just your traditional jersey, which is great,'' she said.
''But it can also be quite modern and funky and out there, really. It's just the limit of your imagination.''
Yarnit president Miriam Spronk, of Glenledi, said the ''knitted graffiti brigade'' was about promoting creative arts, especially wool-based work, in the Clutha town.
The 15-member non-profit group was started late last year after founding members ''yarnbombed'' the town in October.
''It's good for Milton, with the history, the woollen mill, to do something a bit more `nowadays' with it,'' she said.
''It's just a different approach to wool.''
About 50 stalls, spread across two venues on Union St, would represent the ''medium- to high-end'' of the craft, with vendors coming from Invercargill to Dunedin.
The Coronation Hall would host an artisan market and the Tokomairiro Co-operating Parish hall would host a craft market.
Demonstrations, a knitting and crochet class for children, live music and entertainment would keep the one-day free festival focused as a celebration of the arts community, Mrs Spronk said.
The Summer Festival in Milton runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, March 28.
