Chester Zoo set to stage its BIGGEST EVER festival to celebrate precious local wildlife
- Hedgehogs, butterflies and wildflowers among species under threat in the UK
- The Wildlife Connections Festival aims to thrust the UK’s wonderful wildlife into the limelight – fusing family fun with serious conservation
- FREE festival will offer the chance to connect with nature & learn how to help wildlife thrive
- It is biggest celebration of UK wildlife ever staged at the zoo
- Event includes live music, mazes, games and theatre
- The festival includes the option to join the first ever sleepover at the zoo
Three days of nature activities, live music, outdoor theatre and family fun will take place at the zoo as conservationists bid to put a spotlight on local species in dramatic decline.
The free Wildlife Connections Festival – taking place at the zoo’s Nature Reserve (15-17 September) – aims to invoke fresh public interest in declining native British species. Experts say that the UK’s wildlife has undergone a rapid decline over the last 15 years. Recent surveys indicate the hedgehog population in Britain has decreased by 50% in rural areas since 2002, while one in five wildflowers are faced with extinction and 72% of British butterfly species are under serious threat. UK habitat has also changed dramatically – much of Britain was once swathed in woodland but it now covers just 12% of the land.
The zoo’s Wildlife Connections Festival is part of its wider Wildlife Connections campaign – helping UK wildlife by creating new areas of good habitat in gardens, parklands and community spaces.
The year’s festival will give families the chance to dash through the Hedgehog Maze, build dens, dress up like a butterfly and join a huge Pollinator Parade. Sharp-eyed visitors will spot a range of species by joining in with a bug hunt and pond dipping before relaxing in the chill-out zone or learning more at the Sustainability Centre. Families can even learn how to make seed bombs and bird feeders to take home and bring wildlife to their own gardens.
As an added extra, the zoo is even offering its first ever Wildlife Connections Sleepover to allow families the chance to camp out and get even closer to nature, spot moths and bats, enjoy the star gazing and wake up to animal yoga before breakfast.
The three-day event will be held at the zoo’s Nature Reserve – a two-acre wildlife haven which is home to a wide variety of local species and features wildflower meadows, a pond and a grass amphitheatre.
Other highlights include interactive storytelling, creating willow sculptures and the opportunity to build bird feeders and bug homes. Visitors can also take a drone’s eye view of the landscape and find out how drones can support conservation work.
The Wildlife Connections Festival has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and is free (does not include zoo admission). The Sleepover experience is £49 and a child’s ticket is £29, bookable via www.chesterzoo.org.
