By Kate Hodges
30th May 2019
DO Back to Nature
Want to go wild with your family? Spend a month immersing yourselves in nature with the Wildlife Trust’s month of challenges. 30 Days Wild is now in it’s fifth year, last year 49 000 people signed up to take on daily ‘random acts of wildness’ that might include ‘eating a wild lunch’, ‘tuning in by switching off’ and ‘tickling toes in the grass’. The Wildlife Trusts annual 30 Days Wild event runs throughout June, a challenge to commit a ‘Random Act of Wildness’ every day for a month. Get a free 30 Days Wild pack here and be inspired!
EVENT Tooty Fruity
Cambridge’s most popular event has been filling the town’s Midsummer Common with colour, noise and spectacle for over 40 years, bringing together over 30,000 people, and the free Strawberry Fair is happening all over again this Saturday. There are little stages and wonder-filled tents dotted around the common; choose from the Gr3enMachine’s DJs, electronic and acoustic acts, Eastern Bloco’s visual and performance artists (this year, Soapbox Science make their debut appearance) and the Wild Strawberries poetry slam stage. We love their washing lines strung with second-hand clothes and magical bric-a-brac, all free to take. It’s a festival truly full of wonders; will you discover the willow weavers, enter the Druids’ Tree Circle, or throw yourself into the anarcho-punk found on the Soundscape Solar Stage? This year, the theme is love.
EVENT Top of the Docks
Celebrating Liverpool’s maritime heritage, culture, music and food, the River Festival brings colour and spectacle to the city’s docks. See enormous, colourful silk birds, gasp at a performance based in a giant Jenga tower, watch swimmers crossing the Mersey, see an enormous humpback whale rising out of the water in Canning Dock, and listen to folk music from Ireland, India and Africa. Plus there are glorious boats and ships to explore. Free, all weekend.
EVENT Really Wild Show
The UK’s biggest free celebration of the UK’s wild beasts and plants, Bristol and Bath’s Festival Of Nature takes over the cities for two weekends of exhibitions, music, workshops, talks and more. Relax in the ‘wild’ area, the wildlife garden and miniature forest, or join hot debates with wildlife heroes and authors. This year, immerse yourself in virtual reality theatre shows, go on guided walks through secret gardens and meet Kate Bradbury. A thoughtful event that all ages will get something meaningful (and fun) from. Free. June 1–9
EVENT Lunch Bunch
The Big Lunch is a yearly event that aims to bring communities together for a sociable gathering. With delicious food! Win, win, win. This is an event in which children can really get involved; they can make decorations, help design menus, make simple food and act as hosts (is there anything cuter than a kid pretending to be a waiter?) There are always a load of ready-set-up lunches across the country to join, or start your own! If you’re celebrating Ramadan, on irregular shifts, or just fancy a candle-powered gathering, why not try a lunar lunch and feast into the night?
