This year, RSPB Scotland is teaming up with partners and community gardens to celebrate Glasgow Garden Festival’s 30th Anniversary. Scottish Natural Heritage are delighted to co-sponsor these celebrations. Fiona Weir, RSPB Giving Nature a Home project manager, tells us why they are bringing the festival to green spaces across the city.
We will be running a series of events to September right across Glasgow , with the main community events taking place from May to 3 June – mostly to raise awareness of wildlife found on the doorstep.
On 20 April we launched the festival with Let Glasgow Flourish Exhibition at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art gallery.
The exhibition looks back at the 1988 festival and reflects on this changing point for the city of Glasgow. The garden festival still sits firmly as one of Glasgow’s big events and Glaswegians have fond memories of visits to festival over that hot summer.
©Glasgow Wildlife Garden Fest – RSPB Scotland
Let Glasgow Flourish brings together culture, design and biodiversity and we want to showcase this throughout the festival and think about the last 30 years of the design of Glasgow green infrastructure and look forward to the next 30 years and how we can work together to create better spaces for people and wildlife.
It will now go on tour to the Glasgow Science Centre 26 and 27 May, and finishing up on Glasgow Green as part of festival on the green from 2 August-12 August.
May kicks off the main events programme for the festival with over 50 events running from until 3 June.
Come to one of our Events
There will be a variety of events city wide from art installations, wildlife themed walks, canoe trips and citizen science activities in all sizes of green spaces from community pocket gardens, stalled spaces, back courts, church yards, schools grounds and parks. We want to celebrate Glasgow’s fantastic biodiversity and green spaces and highlight how easy it is to get involved in your local greenspace group.
So far we have had lots of exciting events last weekend Dee Heddon and Alec Finley led their wild city walking library which took people around the Barras and Glasgow Green looking at different species and asking what is a wild space in a city. Hogganfield Local Nature Reserve celebrated their 20th birthday party and hosted a wildlife fun day with lots of organisations taking part to celebrate this fantastic hub for nature and lots more.
For the full listing go to www.glasgowwildfest.org
As part of the festival we are asking everyone involved to help create a green legacy.
Last weekend Grow Wild kicked off the green legacy and created a green roof on top of the Glasgow Collective in the Barras. Hillhead School and the local shops and community around Gibson St are creating a pollinator highway, Hyndland school and Pirie Park primary have created a house sparrow meadow in Old Station Park and Elder Park.
Get Involved
We want to inspire people across the city to arrange their own events – whether it is opening up your garden, running a guided walk or simply organising a litter pick in your local park, please get in touch gnahg@rspb.org.uk . Read more here
We have a community pack with guidelines on how to take part in the green legacy please download it here
Year of Young People
This year is Year of Young People and young people are at the core of the festival helping us to design, deliver it and be a part of it.
The Queen Bees a group of students from Hillhead School have been designing the festival as part of our steering group and our ambassador schools have been helping us to create and enhance new green spaces for priority species. We also have university students showcasing their work. The Glasgow School of Art architecture students are delivering a Live Build in one of the community sites looking at new green infrastructure and a student from Strathclyde University Product Design and Engineering has created a Bee Wall with live links to hear and see what the bees are up to.
Springburn Friends of group has young people on their board helping shape the future of the park, their event is found here and Young Milton are delivering events in north Glasgow as part of the community festival
In September we will continue the Year of Young People theme and celebrate all their ideas with a look forward at the next 30 years of Glasgow’s green design. We are inviting young people to share their ideas and help to shape the future of Glasgow’s green spaces at a Green Youth Conference.
If you would like to take part in our conservation pledge or deliver an event in your community as part of the festival. Whether it is opening up your garden, running a guided walk or simply organising a litter pick in your local park, please get in touch with us at gnahg@rspb.org.uk
We look forward to celebrating our dear green spaces.
Scotland's Nature 
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