Between the Trees, south Wales<\/p>\n
Winner of the UK\u2019s best micro-festival in 2025, Between the Trees returns to Candleston Woods in the spectacular Merthyr Mawr national nature<\/a> reserve (between Cardiff and Swansea) this year. Designed to reconnect people to the natural world, the programme features science and nature activities, folk music and storytelling. Workshops in the Eco Hub<\/a> include micrographia sessions \u2013 exploring the world of insects on the reserve \u2013 and nature crafts. The Seren area has plenty of new talks and walks on offer, including stories of Welsh witches and forage-and-taste outings<\/a>. With camping spots next to a wild beach and huge dunes, the site itself will ignite plenty of awe. Secret Wildlife festival, East SussexGet close-up to moths in East Sussex<\/p>\n On peaceful, rewilded fields between a 75-acre wood and a quiet country lane near Barcombe, the Secret Campsite is bursting with nature, from nightingales to slow worms. The best time to soak it up is during the Secret Wildlife festival, when Michael Blencowe, also known as the Sussex Naturalist, will deliver non-stop nature activities to about 90 campers. Alongside drop-in bushcraft activities, guided walks from dawn to dusk, and a big communal barbecue, hands-on activities include moth trapping, building hedgehog tunnels, and a glow-worm safari. Each evening, the Seven Sisters Astronomy Group will help campers explore the universe, and the event closes with a Secret Cinema screening of the campsite\u2019s camera traps. Isle of Wight Biosphere festivalSketchers on the cliffs lead by artist Lucia Para during the Isle of Wight Biosphere festival<\/p>\n The Isle of Wight Biosphere festival spans the island, showcasing the diverse species and landscapes of this Unesco reserve, from beaches and wetlands to chalk downland and woodland. Featured events include a freediving safari in seagrass meadows at Seaview led by marine photographer Theo Vickers, open days at Permaculture Island<\/a> (as seen in Ben Fogle\u2019s New Lives in the Wild), and a UV night walk exploring forest biofluorescence in Firestone Copse. Red Funnel offers discounted ferries from mainland England (\u00a314, adults on foot) to celebrate the week. North Pennines NatureFest, County DurhamA meadow walk at North Pennines NatureFest<\/p>\n Coinciding with European Geoparks Week, North Pennines NatureFest promises a packed agenda of informative and interactive events across the North Pennines national landscape and Unesco Global Geopark. An adder exhibition at Bowlees visitor centre will showcase the region\u2019s commitment to the venerable native species, and all ages are welcome to join ecological experts in a bioblitz<\/a> \u201cwildlife recording frenzy\u201d at Housty Farm in East Allen valley. During the middle weekend, families are invited to a nature camp<\/a> at Low Way Farm in Teesdale for a range of activities from bat detecting to birdsong walks. Nuts About Nature, NorfolkA red squirrel at Kelling Heath Nuts About Nature festival. Photograph: Kelling Heath<\/p>\n Local nature experts will guide activities and workshops during Nuts About Nature at Kelling Heath holiday park, a 120-hectare (300-acre) woodland and nationally rare open heathland near Holt. Coinciding with the unveiling of the park\u2019s new red squirrel enclosure, guests are invited to become \u201cacorn adventurers\u201d for the weekend, taking part in activities including pond-dipping, nature crafts, and self-guided trails. The park\u2019s countryside team will be on-site to answer questions about the park\u2019s red squirrel population, conservation efforts, and the recently refurbished and enlarged enclosure. Urban Wild, SouthamptonUrban Wild draws people to green spaces<\/p>\n Run by the Southampton National Park City<\/a> initiative and part of its Youth for Climate and Nature scheme, Urban Wild 2026 will use communal events to explore the theme Reimagining Southampton. Designed to bring people closer to the city\u2019s green and blue spaces while imagining a greener future, the festival will open with Urban Wild on the Common (24 May), featuring stalls, music and family activities on Southampton Common. Other activities are organised by community groups and include group bike rides, creative workshops, and wildlife identification sessions. Orkney Nature festivalThe Old Man of Hoy. Photograph: Allan Wright\/Alamy<\/p>\n Organised by a committee of local volunteers, this weeklong festival will immerse visitors in Orkney\u2019s unique wildlife, from puffins to Risso\u2019s dolphins. Across the islands of Hoy and Birsay, guided walks visit seabird colonies clinging to cliffs, while RSPB wardens allow close observation without disturbance during guide-in-a-hide sessions. Other activities include snorkel safaris with Kraken Diving<\/a>, an exploration of 5,000 years of people and nature at Skara Brae<\/a>, and nature-inspired pottery sessions<\/a> with Robin Palmer. Solstice festival, CornwallTrematon Castle will host the Solstice festival. Photograph: John Husband\/Alamy<\/p>\n Nature the Artist<\/a> \u2013 an initiative recognising nature as a recording artist and using royalties to fund conservation work \u2013 will take over Trematon Castle estate over the solstice weekend for the first time this year. Overlooking the Tamar estuary, live music, immersive art installations, talks and fire ceremonies will be led by the likes of female group Boss Morris<\/a>, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), and Deb Grant (6 Music DJ). Nature immersion will be plentiful, with botanical guided walks, foraging sessions, and participatory workshops focused on ecology and seasonal change. The not-for-profit gathering will donate 100% of festival profits to EarthPercent<\/a>\u2019s nature restoration efforts. Goren festival, DevonThe Goren festival is set amid wildflower meadows<\/p>\n Spread across the wildflower meadows and orchards of Goren Farm near Honiton, Goren festival is a family-friendly weekend celebration of music and nature. Pop-up stages will fill the farm with music all weekend and everyone is invited to get involved in the creative arts through workshops, open mic and fireside sessions. A nature zone will inspire and delight younger visitors with nature trails, bat walks, wildlife stands and a forest school. Festival of Nature, BristolThe Bristol Festival of Nature is great for kids. Photograph: Ania Shrimpton<\/p>\n Organised by the Bristol Natural History Consortium<\/a>, the Festival of Nature aims to inspire public action for nature and the climate through free events in Bristol, Bath, and online. As the UK\u2019s largest free nature festival, hundreds of events are on offer, including guided wildlife walks, river and shoreline surveys, citizen science projects, seed planting, pollinator tracking and hands-on conservation activities. Among this year\u2019s highlights are insect ID walks with Bath City Farm<\/a>, family tree trails in Victoria Park, river dipping in Brislington Brook, online poetry-writing workshops, dementia-friendly allotment sessions, and a bioblitz species count at Stoke Park.
27-30 August, weekend tickets \u00a3195 adults, \u00a350 children, betweenthetrees.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
26-28 June, weekend tickets including camping and all activities from \u00a3112 adults, \u00a356 children, thesecretcampsite.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
27 June\u20135 July, mix of free and paid events, iwbiosphere.org<\/a><\/p>\n
23 May-7 June, events priced individually, nature camp from \u00a330 adults, \u00a320 children, northpennines.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
5-7 June, tent pitches from \u00a339.50 per night and 3-for-2 nights offer with code NUTSABOUTNATURE26; kellingheath.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
23-31 May, free, southamptonnpc.com<\/a><\/p>\n
11-17 May, events priced individually, orkneynaturefestival.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
19\u201322 June, from \u00a3260 for a weekend ticket, adults only, gardenoftomorrow.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
3-5 July, weekend tickets from \u00a344 adults, \u00a329 children, camping pitch \u00a318, gorenfestival.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n
6\u201314 June, free, bnhc.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between the Trees, south Wales Winner of the UK\u2019s best micro-festival in 2025, Between the Trees returns to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-558325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}