A FESTIVAL for green fingered residents is to be held in Aberystwyth encouraging people to go and grow.

Anyone who is interested in growing their own food or being out in nature, and would like to find out more about what’s happening in Aberystwyth, is invited to the Go and Grow festival on 24-30 September.

Based around Maes Gwenfrewi, the new wildlife garden on North Road, the festival kicks off with the Go and Grow Fair at the garden on Saturday 24 September, followed by a series of events around town in the following week.

“We are thrilled to have the support of the Town Council who developed the garden and are sponsoring this event,” said Tir Coed’s Alice Read, one of the organisers.

“We’ve been working with groups and individuals across the town so that we can all come together and celebrate gardening and being out in nature.”

The Festival is organised jointly by environmental group Tir Coed and the Tyfu Dyfi project, which is promoting gardening and local food across the Dyfi Biosphere.

The fair at Maes Gwenfrewi runs from 11am to 3pm on Saturday 24 September, and will include demonstrations of apple pressing and beekeeping as well as children’s activities, garden tours, storytelling, sales of local food, wildlife and conservation activities and refreshments. All for free.

“We’ve been working at the new garden since June, planting up community vegetable beds with our volunteers, and now we’re hoping people will come and harvest some of the food, as well as learning about what we can be doing in our gardens at home,” said Jade Phillips of the charity Garden Organic, which is a partner in the Tyfu Dyfi project.

During the following week, further open events will be held at Maes Gwenfrewi, Penglais Community Garden, the new World War II garden behind Pentre Jane Morgan, and a new project near Clarach called Dan yr Onnen (with free bus travel provided).

The Go and Grow festival began with a week of activities at Penparcau Community Forum in August, and this second week is timed to coincide with the Great Big Green Week, the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

The event on Saturday near North Road has been sponsored by Aberystwyth Town Council.

To find out more about the Go and Grow Festival, see https://tircoed.org.uk/go-and-grow-festival-aberystwyth or contact Alice Read or Jade Phillips on [email protected] or Jane Powell on 07929 857173.