Picking over packed programme for Newcastle park’s growing festival
Activities and attractions in spades at Exhibition Park's upcoming free festival. Tony Henderson digs into the programme.
A festival of showing and growing and the wellbeing it creates will be staged at a Newcastle park later this month.
The Newcastle Allotment and Garden Festival is coming to Exhibition Park on Sunday September 15.
Organised by Urban Green Newcastle, the event has been organised to celebrate allotments, gardening and sustainability and will bring together food and drink, talks and workshops, live music, family activities, and wellbeing sessions.
The festival will include the city’s annual allotment and gardening show, with more than 50 categories for entries from across 60 allotment sites in Newcastle.
The winners of the Allotment Plot Competition will also be announced with prizes awarded in nine categories, including Best Group or Community Plot, Best Organic Plot, Most Wildlife Friendly, and Most Improved Site.
GemArts, Curious Arts and Newcastle Mela will be among those offering up entertainment and activities to take part in while Wylam Brewery, which occupies the park’s former Palace of Arts building from the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition, will also participate - hosting a market which has been organised for the occasion.
Carol Pyrah, chief executive of Urban Green Newcastle, said: “We have arranged some very special events and performances throughout the day.
“In addition to the produce competition, we’ve also partnered with Wylam Brewery and Urban Park Market to bring together some of the region’s best food and drink producers in our food village and makers’ market.
“We’ve arranged lots of free workshops and talks so people can learn more about the benefits of being green-fingered, and how gardening and growing can improve our local environment.
“We’re delighted organisations including Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Climate Action Newcastle will be joining us, as well as popular gardeners Ridsdill Smith (@vertical_veg) and Dan Matt Clark (@geordiegrower).
“Urban Green rangers will be showcasing the biodiversity across Newcastle’s parks – from the fruit and vegetables that grow in the city’s green spaces, to the nature and wildlife habitats that thrive thanks to the environmentally friendly ways the parks are cared for.”
Live music will be provided throughout proceedings by the likes of Ellington Colliery Band, Rock Choir, Northern Proud Voices and local singer/songwriter, Ryan Bird.
Meanwhile climate hope organisation, Threads in the Ground, will be introducing people to mushroom sculpting and eco-materials like mushroom plastic.
Magic Hat Café - Newcastle city centre’s first and only coffee shop, kitchen and events venue dedicated to challenging UK food waste – will be leading a free, drop in session on fermenting, while Ouseburn pre-loved shop The People’s Exchange will demonstrating how to boost sustainability when it comes to clothes shopping.
The free festival runs from 11am – 4pm. For more information visit urbangreennewcastle.org.
Visitors will also be able to inspect the park lake’s new floating island which has been installed by Northumbrian Water and Urban Green.
The structure has been designed and manufactured by ecological company Biomatrix Water Solutions, which also designed a floating island installed at Newcastle Quayside two years ago.
The lake island will encourage aquatic life to feed and shelter as well giving birds a place to rest and nest and will be anchored to the lakebed and covered with a range of native evergreen and flowering plants.