SPRING MUSIC CONCERT SET TO HIGHLIGHT SWINDON’S HERITAGE AND NATURE

Swindon residents will be able to enjoy a Spring Festival celebrating Blossom this weekend with a series of events taking place in GWR Park and Town Gardens.

A music concert will be taking place in GWR Park’s new Blossom Circle between 8.30am and 2.30pm, courtesy of the Swindon Young Music Service and St Mark’s Church Choir. Other events and activities taking place at GWR Park and the Railway Village include:

•  New blossom and nature-themed activities will be taking place through arts charity Artsite and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
• The National Trust will also be present with their Welcome Van so residents can learn about the Trust’s projects, activities, and properties.
•  Free heritage tours of the park will be on offer from the Mechanics Institute Trust so you can learn about the significant history of the park and its importance to the development of Swindon in the industrial era. Bookings and information on the walking tours are available here: https://allevents.in/swindon/gwr-park-walking-tour/80002103384124

The Town Gardens Café in the Town Gardens, Old Town, is also running a series of events across the weekend. These include:

• Yoga in the Town Gardens with Uptown Yoga- Friday 28th April 6pm-7pm.
• Blossom Events @ Town Gardens, Saturday 29th April, 10am – Pottery Painting with Charlotte Manser Ceramics. 3pm – 4pm – A walk and talk to learn about the Spring Blossom and floral and fauna of Town Gardens with Kathryn Hay.
• Kids Flower Crown Workshop@ Town Gardens, Sunday 30th April, 11am and 2pm
• Blossom BBQ with Town Gardens Cafe and Andrews Quality Meats butchers, Sunday 30th April, 6pm-8pm.
• Music and Movement for 0 – 4-year-olds at the Town Gardens, Monday 1st May.

The events and activities run by the Town Gardens Café require advanced bookings through the Blossom Festival webpage found here: https://southswindon-pc.gov.uk/swindon-blossom-festival/

The series of events over the Bank Holiday weekend follows the previous event at GWR Park and at Shaftesbury Lake- both earlier this month.

Cllr Janine Howarth, Vice-Chair of South Swindon Parish Council, said: “I am delighted that we can bring a Blossom Festival to Swindon and showcase South Swindon’s blossoming outside spaces and nature, including GWR Park in Central Swindon and the Town Gardens in Swindon’s Old Town area.

“The festival comes off the back of the wonderful improvements we have made to GWR Park, thanks to funding from Historic England and the National Trust. This includes GWR Park’s new Blossom Circle, which is situated in the position of the park’s old bandstand.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the National Trust for sponsoring this event and all other partners of this year’s Swindon Blossom Festival.”

Town Gardens Café co-owner, Marie Kilford, said: “We ran our own Blossom Festival last year in the Town Gardens to celebrate the many mature cherry blossom trees in the park and were amazed by the interest and support for the festival. It’s great that the festival can be extended this year into other parks and open spaces and we can celebrate the wonders of blossom to a wider audience. We look forward to taking part in the blossom activities in the Spring.”

For more information and interview requests, contact Sam Victory (Communications Officer) [email protected] or 07495955935