Festival of the Future – The Big Sustainability Festival

West Cheshire Museums’ ‘Festival for the Future – the Big Sustainability Festival’, is a month of eco-storytelling, circus performances, sustainability talks, a clothes swap, craft fair, and an art exhibition exploring the future of climate change.

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “The Big Sustainability Festival returns for a second year and once again has an exciting programme of events and activities spread out through July in Chester, Northwich and Farndon.

“The festival starts in Chester on 8 July with something for everyone, from fossils to fashion. The activities move to the Stretton Watermill on 15 July exploring how hydropower was used to mill flour and ‘Sketch and Explore’ nature journalling workshops, where visitors can relax with a sketch pad and have a go at drawing and documenting the wildlife around them.  The Lion Salt Works in Northwich closes the festival on 22 July welcoming back Barnton Circus and their acrobatic skills, plus facepainting an eco-storyteller and forest school.”

Chester’s Grosvenor Museum - 8 July, 10.30am to 5pm

• Clothes swap, trade your pre-loved clothing for new and exciting pieces
• Learn about real fossils from the museum’s collection (and perhaps even hold the dinosaur egg)
• ‘Ask a Dinosaur Expert’, an open Q&A with palaeontologists, where visitors can ask all their burning questions (1pm to 1.30pm)
• Drop-in art workshops for all ages, exploring climate change and sustainability in Chester
• A fossil dig, forage for real fossils to identify and take home
• A ROARsome dinosaur trail around the museum
• Free talks on environmental issues, including ‘Sustainable Cities’ (James McKay, University of Leeds). James is a science illustrator who uses art to explore what a sustainable future might look like in the year 2500 (2pm to 2.30pm). Plus, learn about Slow (sustainable) Fashion and have a go at patching with Friends of the Earth.
• An exhibition in the museum’s upstairs gallery, exploring how climates have changed since the beginning of time and imagining where it might lead in the future

Stretton Water Mill, near Farndon -15 July, 10.30am to 5pm:

• Workshops, explore hydropower plus ‘Sketch and Explore’ nature journalling workshops. Tours of the Mill (small additional charge).

Lion Salt Works Museum, Ollershaw Lane, Northwich  - 22 July, 10.30am to 5pm:

• Barnton Circus
• Workshops
• Eco-storyteller
• Face painting
• Forest school activities

All activities are free and not dependent on entry costs to the museums (where applicable).

For further information, go to: 

www.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk