Chester: City gets ready for inaugural Green Weekend event

Chester Green Weekend, which will take place on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday June 16, coincides with the final two days of the national event, the Great Big Green Week.

The family-friendly festival-style event is a collaboration between ambassadors from Chester Great and Small (GAS) who have in recent years staged standalone events with sustainability themes – Active Travel Festival, Green Expo, Sustainable Cheshire Fairs (EcoCommunities) and the ōH Design Foundation – but have now joined forces, with support from CWaC, Chester BID, We Love Good Times and Reasonably Good.

The aim of the free-entry event is to shine a light on Chester to showcase it as a leading sustainability hub for the North West of England and encourage both residents and visitors to make small changes today, to support a better shared future.

Award-winning ōH Design Foundation at 22 Bridge Street – one of a variety of venues hosting events during Chester Green Weekend. (Image: GAS)

A special limited-edition Chester Green Weekend map, produced by WLGT, will provide details of over 100 activities such as workshops, walks and talks, artisan stalls, food and entertainment, taking place across the city.

Highlights include:

Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June at Grosvenor Park:

Sustainable Living Zone – organised by Eco Communities. As people become increasingly conscious of their impact on the environment, they are looking for more ways to live more sustainably. One way to do this is by buying and selling second-hand items, which not only reduces waste but also saves resource and energy that would be used to create new products.

Pioneered in Australia, and now debuting in Chester is, ‘Luggage Rummage’ – an eco-version of a car boot sale. The concept involves bringing a picnic blanket and chair, together with two suitcases full of pre-loved items, home makes or bakes, home grown vegetables and to sell them off at a cost of £10 per stall, per day.

Nature Zone – full of family-friendly, fun activities from both Chester Zoo and Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Innovation Zone by Green Expo – ideas of how to make your home more environmentally friendly and discover alternative energy, water, waste and transport solutions from local and national organisations.

Walks & Talks – conducted by Green Badge Guides, Katie Crowther and Gail Shearer. All walks start from Grosvenor Park Pavilion, and end at ōH Design Foundation on Bridge Street.

Chester Cathedral – view the winners of the Green Expo Photo Competition in the cloisters, as well as attend talks about ‘Cathedral at Height’ and the use of solar panels on a listed building. 

ōH Design Foundation – visit 22 Bridge Street for its Material Talks Programme, Green Table by Product Design and the University of Chester, showcasing the best ideas for sustainable solutions, seed bank, street-food bar and more.

Sunday June 16 only:

Active Travel Festival (ATfest) returns after successfully premiering last year. Located primarily in Town Hall Square you will find Chester Cycling Campaign, the everyday walking charity Living Streets and other organisations encouraging people to walk, cycle and trike into and around the city-centre.

Exchange Square will host stunt bike displays at intervals throughout the day and both Storyhouse and New Chester Market will have a variety of activities ranging from a lecture by Professor Peter Cox to maintenance demonstrations by the Bike Factory.

Helen Tandy, Chester Green Weekend project organiser and Eco Communities director said: “We’re incredibly excited to host Chester’s first Green Weekend. Whether you’re already passionate about sustainability, interested in renewable energy or just curious about a greener lifestyle, then this event is for you. From putting EV chargers and a repair hub on the High Street, our collective vision is for a zero-carbon Chester created by, and for, everyone. An exciting climate friendly future is taking shape. Help us create it!”

Tim Kenney, chair of GAS commented: “By hosting events such as these we’re underlining Chester’s commitment to becoming a more progressive and liveable city. For such a compact place with so much going on Chester is rather poor at communicating to a wider audience. There are a number of initiatives that GAS is helping to promote and through collaboration and ‘joining up the dots’ we’re making it safer, greener and more connected.”

To find out more about the full programme of the weekend’s event visit: https://chestergreenweekend.co.uk/whats-on/.