Big Buzz Fringe events will include wildflower planting at The Swifts and Allonby Green © Cumbria Wildlife Trust
Big Buzz fringe festival in Carlisle this weekend!
Lots of FREE activities for all the family to celebrate our pollinating insects
We're buzzing with excitement this weekend, as we hold our city-wide celebration of pollinators at venues across Carlisle, including at our base at Gosling Sike in Houghton.
On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September we’ll be singing the praises of bees and butterflies at a wide range of public events – we’ll also bang the drum for the often-ignored fly! All pollinating insects will be celebrated at this two-day Big Buzz Fringe festival, which follows our Big Buzz Conference on Friday.
With free activities every day, there’s something for all the family to enjoy.
Highlights of the festival include:
‘Flies, the forgotten pollinators’ Tullie House, Saturday 24 September, 2.00pm–2.45pm
Dr Erica McAlister from the Natural History Museum will talk about her life-long passion for flies – and why we shouldn’t forget about them!
‘The Swifts – from Golf Course to Nature Haven' Tullie House, Saturday 24 September, 3.00pm–3.45pm
Dr Alex Dittrich from the University of Cumbria will describe how a wildlife desert became an amazing haven for nature.
Celebration of Bees, Tullie House, Saturday 24 September, 6.30pm–10pm
Join us for the launch of the very first Cumbrian Bumblebee Atlas – includes a talk from local naturalist Jane Orgee, and premier of film ‘My Garden of a Thousand Bees’.
The Big Plant, Swifts Nature Reserve, Carlisle, Saturday 24 September, 10am–3pm
Help us and Carlisle City Council plant around 4,000 wildlife-friendly plants to help make a difference for bees and other pollinators. Plus: pollinator trail, bio-blitz and children's activities.
The Big Plant, Allonby Green, Saturday 24 September, 10am–3.00pm
We're planting 2,000 plug plants with Solway AONB - so join us as ‘many hands make little work’. Plus: bio-blitz.
The Big Buzz! Gosling Sike, Houghton, Sunday 25 September, 10.00am–4.00pm
Join us for:
- Wildlife themed arts and crafts for children.
- Pop-up plant and garden product sale.
- Get creative drop in arts and creative writing activities for all ages.
- Refreshments available to buy.
- Open garden and self-led trails.
On Sunday 25 September, Gosling Sike will also be the venue for moth trapping (don’t worry, it’s harmless!), a nursery and seed bank tour, folklore storytelling and a wildlife gardening workshop.
More details of all fringe events
The Big Buzz National Pollinator Conference and Fringe have been made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is the culmination of Get Cumbria Buzzing. This ground-breaking, three-year project aims to get community green spaces around north and west Cumbria and road verges on parts of the A66 and A595 buzzing with bees and pollinators, and to increase the communities’ knowledge of pollinating insects.
Dr Erica McAlister will tell us about the amazing world of flies and how important they are
Dr Alex Dittrich from the University of Cumbria will talk about the transformation of The Swifts, from golf course to nature reserve.
The Swifts in Carlisle, after it was transformed into a nature reserve © Stuart Walker Photography
Notes
The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by The National Lottery, to inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund. Since The National Lottery began in 1994,
National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK. More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.