A GARDEN festival highlighting all things outdoors is set to bring exciting workshops and events to schools.

The Colchester Garden Festival will celebrate gardening, planting and the green spaces surrounding Colchester when it runs from July 21 to August 21.

Run by Our Colchester Business Improvement District, gardening celebrity Lee Connelly is launcing the event this week by touring 15 schools to get youngsters into the outdoors.

The primary schools will be collating pallet gardens which will later be on display in Colchester town centre during the festival, to the theme of the platinum jubilee.

Read more:

 

Visitors to the town will be able to vote for their favourite pallet garden, with the winner awarded a School Gardening Success Plan worth £500.

In addition to the school education programme, there will also be lots of activities for the family including sow and grow workshops, nature trail walks into the town centre, and children’s shows at the Mercury Theatre.

Skinny jean gardener Mr Connelly, author of How to Get Kids Gardening, said: “I’m looking forward to running the sow and grow workshop pop-ups to help families get started on their gardening journey and seeing the schools project come to life in the town centre.”