CANTON – The Local Living Festival will offer dozens of workshops to teach people how to grow their own food, heat their home economically and safely, woodlot management and construction techniques to build a house that uses less energy.

The Local Living Festival will be held Sept. 26 at the Village Green and five surrounding indoor venues in Canton.

Dozens of workshops will cover raising bees, wild edibles, rocket stoves, homesteading skills and businesses, managing invasive plants and insects, whole health through nutrition, non-toxic cleaning products, growing herbs and more.

Workshops will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and exhibitors will be on hand to share information about local agencies, organizations and businesses dedicated to the local community from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Demonstrations of karate, fly fishing, blacksmithing, basket making, spinning and knitting, tai chi, acupuncture and accupressure, reiki, wood block printing and much more will be featured, as well as book signings and music provided by the TAUNY jam session group and the Jack Kelley Big Band.

For families there will be a private Nurse & Nap Station, coordinated by Rainbow Crabtree Doula Services and the "Yurt if You Hurt" First Aid Station will be in a small traditional yurt building that will be constructed on site and staffed by local volunteer firefighters with first aid certification. The Potsdam Food Co-op & Carriage House Bakery will providing volunteer hospitality and Casella Waste is providing zero-sort recycling bins.

Featured speakers include Diane Cohen of the Finger Lakes ReUse Center on "Organizing a ReUse Center in St. Lawrence County", sponsored by the newly formed St. Lawrence ReUse Center project, and Daniel Greenberg of Earth Deeds presents "Moving Beyond Carbon Offsetting: Local Solutions to Global Warming", sponsored by the North Country 350 Alliance with support from the Brookmar Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

The Welcome Tent will be powered by a solar trailer for remote home construction provided by Shulze Construction and there will be a Game, Book & Toy Swap from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. sponsored by the Unitarian Church and the Deep Root Center. Info: 244-3034.

Admission is a sliding scale of $7-20, with children under 16 admitted free of charge. There will be a variety of activities for kids.

The full line-up of events and activities can be viewed at the Local Living Festival webpage at bit.ly/1hO7fIt.

Notably, the Local Living Festival was the first Zero Waste-certified Festival in New York State in 2011. Recycling education at the waste bin, elimination of compostable items from the waste stream, and encouraging people to bring their own place settings (instead of using disposables) have previously garnered the Festival a Gold level certification from the ZIP Certification Program.

Info: 347-4223, or LocalLivingFestival@gmail.com.