PLANNING FESTIVAL

There is plenty of activity across the city in the run up to the festival to create two exciting community art projects that will be displayed for all to see throughout the festival weekend. Find out more below:

We are inviting schools, local groups and individuals to be part of creating a ‘Field of Colour’ that will be displayed over the festival weekend - giving everyone the opportunity to get involved and be part of the festival.

Everyone will make and decorate a flower using recycled plastic bottles. The flower display will be labelled with the school or group’s name and logo so that you can identify your flowers when you come along. Get involved and join in the festival fun!

Peterborough Presents is producing another project for the festival filled with local flavour & pride.

The team is asking groups, schools and individuals to help design and make ostrich-sized birds that represent their sense of pride & show off their creativity. This flock will then be installed at Peterborough Celebrates Festival.

Using birds of paradise as a theme, each bird will represent an area of the city, including people’s ideas of paradise or messages of hope. This flightless installation will be brighter than a flamingo or flashier than a peacock!

Up until the festival dates in May, four artists will be working with community groups in areas such as Orton, Eye, Millfield and Westwood to create their bird. There is a city-wide competition running until the 31 March to have your own design made into a bird and painted by a professional artist.

You can find all the details on how to enter the competition at www.peterboroughpresents.org

You can follow this project via the Peterborough Presents Instagram page: @peterboroughpresents and come along to the festival to admire the flock on display!

To find out more about the festival programme as it is announced and our detailed list of FAQs go to www.peterboroughcelebratesfestival.co.uk

Thank you!

Thank you to all organisations who are supporting the festival in some way. Special thanks go to Railworld Wildlife Haven who are offering free parking to festival-goers and Nene Valley Railway who are laying on a shuttle service of trains again this year.

When we think of early spring flowers, we tend to think of snowdrops, primroses, and a bit later in the season, bluebells. All of these are common in the Park, and give a great splash of spring colour, but there are others that are just as deserving of a mention that can be spotted around the Park.

One of my personal favourite early spring flowers is the snake’s-head fritillary. Generally seen in April and May, it can’t be mistaken for any other plant due to its belllike flower with chequered petals that are usually purple but can also be pink or white.

Park Ranger Nigel would like to challenge you to spot these different parts of the Park that he’s been visiting all in a day’s work.

Look closely at the photos and see if you can recognise the locations. Good luck! The answers are on page 19.

Due to the national decline in meadow habitats this flower has been declining in number due to habitat loss. In the Park the best place to see this flower is on the mound near the Pyramid sculpture along the back of Gunwade Lake.

Lesser celandine is one of our earliest blooming flowers, often up at the same time as snowdrops. Easily identified by its star-shaped yellow flower and dark green, heart shaped leaves, it is often found along hedgerows and track edges. In the Park the best places to spot this early flower are Bluebell Wood, or mixed in with the snowdrops along Ham Lane. A relative of the Primrose, cowslips are another fairly distinctive flower that can be found in the meadow areas across the Park, especially around the edges of Oak Meadow. Identifiable by the clusters of tubular, yellow flowers and rosettes of crinkled leaves in the grass, they add a splash of yellow in April/May, before a lot of the other meadow flowers come up.

Later on in spring, around early May time, Bluebell Wood is worth another visit not only to see the stunning display of bluebells but also the large amount of wild garlic that grows there. The smell, if the wild garlic is disturbed, can be quite powerful, and coupled with the violet of the bluebells and the white flowers of the garlic, it is a real treat for the senses.