Do you fancy a wild weekend? A festival goes online this weekend and you can tune in for free from Friday, June 18 to Sunday, June 20.
A nature festival encourages attendees to do all of the unusual wildlife festival activities only at home this weekend after gathering a number of guests for The Wildlife Trust’s Big Wild Weekend virtual.
The three-day online summer extravaganza will be hosted by Craig Bennett, executive director of The Wildlife Trusts and guest judge for the Wainwright Prize, which celebrates the best in nature writing.
There will be an impressive line-up of nature-loving writers sharing their inspiration from the wild with a new literature event on YouTube on Friday 18th on Saturday and a quiz on Sunday.
You can expect that
Friday, June 18, 7.30 p.m. – Live talk: writers inspired by nature
Bookworms can join a glittering array of popular writers to find out how nature motivated their work and influenced their lives. The panel will be moderated by The Wildlife Trusts CEO Craig Bennett and will include:
- Lucy Jones. Lucy is a journalist and writer and is a regular contributor to BBC Earth, The Guardian and The Independent. Her second book Losing Eden: Why our Minds Need The Wild explores the relationship between the natural world and the human psyche.
- Brigit Strawbridge-Howard. Brigit’s book “Dancing with Bees – a Journey back to nature” is a charming and eloquent account of her return to observation and reconnection with nature.
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Adam Nicolson is a journalist and author of books on history, landscape and nature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland and the author of books such as The Seabird’s Cry.
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Lamorna ash. A regular contributor to The Times Literary Supplement and author of Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, a compelling, lyrical, and insightful portrait of life in a Cornish fishing port.
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Alice Vincent is the Features Editor at Penguin Books, having previously worked as a writer and editor on the Telegraph. Alice’s books include How To Grow Stuff and Rootbound, a memoir and botanical guide.
Saturday, June 19, from 7:00 p.m. – Big Wild Camp-out
Go outside and join thousands of Big Wild Weekenders for a huge garden camp out.
There will be a simple recipe for owl pancakes to keep the festival spirit alive, birdsong at the touch of a button, as well as The Wildlife Trust’s beautiful moth identification sheets for the adventurous.
Wild Weekenders also have the chance to win a backpack from Cotswold Outdoors *. Get creative with a wild outdoor festival camp at home or a nature-themed indoor cave! Additional prizes for the best game setup. Join the fun on Facebook when you register and follow the fun social media posts on Twitter and Facebook.
Get outdoors this weekend as part of 30 Days Wild
(Image: © David Tipling 2020VISION)
Sunday, June 20, 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. – Big Wild Quiz
A special children’s quiz will be held on Facebook with BAFTA-winning TV presenter and director Maddie Moate and science presenter and producer Greg Foot.
Then at 7 p.m. the Big Wild Quiz via Facebook Live, moderated by actor and environmentalist David Oakes and zoologist Sophie Pavelle.
The special guest and the nation’s most popular GP, Dr. Amir Khan, will be asking science and natural history questions with actor and DJ Cel Spelman and ornithologist and environmental activist Mya-Rose Craig.
The Big Wild Weekend is part of the Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild Challenge, where something wild is done every day in June. This year, an estimated record 730,000 people will take part in 30 Days Wild.
Abbie Hargreaves, director of 30 Days Wild said, “All good bookworms know that the best stories create magical worlds in which we can lose ourselves, regenerate our souls and ‘revive’ our imaginations. Join us for a Big Wild Weekend and hear firsthand how secret wild places, hidden natural gems, journeys between trees and adventures at sea also inspire writers and writers in key moments of their lives a fun quiz event. ”
To register for free and see the weekend program, visit: wildlifetrusts.org/big-wild-weekend