The festival will feature a variety of activities, including trade fairs, climate change films, sustainable living bus tours and presentations.

It is a joint project between the Break O'Day and Glamorgan- Spring Bay councils and is supported by festival partners Natural Resource Management North and Natural Recourse Management South, sponsors, community groups and residents.

Festival co-ordinator Cynthia Maxwell-Smith said the aim of the festival was to help local communities explore sustainable living options and respond to the challenges of climate change.

"Climate change, peak oil and dwindling natural resources are serious issues," Ms Maxwell-Smith said.

"But this is a festival and we aim to have fun and entertain as well as provide information."

Special guests at the festival include heritage chicken breeder and organic gardener Paul Healy, eminent climate change consultant Phil Harrington and sustainable house design expert Tony Weaver.

The See Change Sustainability Festival will start on Saturday, at the St Helens Portland Memorial Hall, from 9am until 3pm, and continue on Sunday, at the Bicheno Community Hall, from 10am until 3pm.