Festival of Nature Square to host pop-up wetland

A POP-UP wetland will be built in the middle of Bristol’s Millennium Square this June as the UK’s largest free nature festival returns with a bold new focus on water.

- Lewis CLARKE

The Festival of Nature, now in its 22nd year, runs from Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 15 and will feature over 80 mostly free events across Bristol and Bath. Organisers hope the theme will highlight the importance of water in supporting ecosystems and biodiversity.

The centrepiece of this year’s programme will be a UK first - an 8x8 metre living wetland exhibit constructed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Bristol’s Harbourside.

Visitors will be able to step inside the recreated ecosystem, see sculptures of kingfishers and warblers hidden among the reeds, and learn about the role wetlands play in flood prevention, water purification and wildlife conservation.