INTERVIEW: New Lancaster festival getting back to city's Wild Roots

A celebration of the natural world and a chance to explore the beautiful green spaces of Lancaster is coming to the city.

The Wild Roots festival is an opportunity for people to connect with nature through creative workshops, wildlife walks and wellbeing sessions. 

Over the weekend of June 13 to 15, people are invited to join sessions in the city’s green spaces and follow the Trail of Nature displays around the city centre to win some fantastic prizes from local and independent shops. 

The weekend will kick off with FoodFutures’ Midsummer Market on the Friday in Lancaster Market Square.

You’ll find stalls selling locally produced food and crafts as well as live music, cooking demos, community stalls and more.

Visit the festival’s founder Ros Jones on the Wildlife Wellbeing Walks stall to pick up a programme which includes a map and details for the Trail of Nature competition. 

LISTEN here to Ros chatting to Beth Pipe from Beyond Radio about the festival.

Over the weekend there will be guided nature walks in different venues with opportunities to learn more about the birds, insects and plants that share the spaces with us.

You might want to join a singing walk in Freeman’s Wood, hunt for bugs in Fairfield Nature Reserve or learn more about the bird life in Lancaster Cemetery. 

Below, the Friends of Lancaster Cemetery.

On Saturday there will be a day of events at Freeman’s Wood with a focus on health and wellbeing as well as creative activities for deepening our connection to nature.

This includes Yoga and T’ai Chi sessions, singing walks, a sound bath and much more, including child friendly activities.

It’s a chance to learn more about this special place with an industrial past that has become a haven for nature.

Saturday will also see the Storey Gardens hosting Rosa’s Tea garden where you can book a place in a lively and engaging 'seminar' about the history of tea and how it's consumed and respected across the world. 

Whilst at the Storey, pop into the Print Room Cafe to see the maps of Ridge and Marsh areas created through the Mapping Our Place project.

These show the stories and memories from people who live or visit these two areas.

The maps will be on display from June 9 to 16 and visitors are invited to add their own stories about those places.   

On Sunday, Claver Hill Community project will host events exploring writing and crafting inspired by nature.

Cumbrian-based author Karen Lloyd is running a writing workshop using the nature of Claver Hill as a focus.

Local woodcarver Graeme Brown will be running sessions on woodcarving using materials from the site. Throughout the day there will be nature trail walks and a chance to learn about Claver Hill's natural dye gardens. 

Events are free of charge, although where you can afford to, visitors are encouraged to make a small donation to help with the costs of delivering the activities and events.

Some events will be available as drop-ins, but most of them will need to be booked in advance.

Booking is simple and can be done through the festival website. 

The organisers said they were grateful to Lancaster BID for supporting the festival.

Visitors are encouraged to support local businesses and to join the Trail of Nature competition with posters across a number of city centre businesses, many of whom have contributed prizes.

Each poster shows pairs of species which are connected with each other – find them all and enter the prize draw by the end of June 2025 for the chance to win some fantastic prizes. 

The festival has been developed and coordinated by Ros Jones from Wildlife Wellbeing Walks CIC, in collaboration with people from the following organisations: FoodFutures, Claver Hill, Friends of Freeman’s Wood, Exergonic CIC, Friends of the Storey Gardens, Fairfield Association, Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster RSPB Group and Natural England. 

Ros is pictured below with Beth Pipe from Beyond Radio

Everyone is invited to get involved throughout the festival and to share thoughts and experiences on social media with #WildRootsFest2025. 

The organisers are hoping that this festival can become an annual fixture in the local calendar of events, and even to extend the reach to other greenspaces in the surrounding area in future years. 

The full festival programme and the Trail of Nature map can be found HERE.

Copies of the programme are available to pick up at The Storey throughout June and at the Wild Roots Festival locations.