Winter Wildlife Festival in Gloucestershire
A festival celebrating the richness of winter wildlife is coming to Gloucestershire later this month.
Up to 40,000 birds, including the Bewick's swans, journey to Slimbridge Wetland Centre every year, creating breathtaking wildlife spectacles.
The Winter Wildlife Festival will be a week of special events, activities, workshops and demonstrations to allow you to experience nature at its best.
The festival, which is sponsored by Swarovski Optik, will run from Monday 29 November to Sunday 5 December.
Among the highlights are workshops with wildlife artist Jackie Garner, and stalls selling all manner of outdoor and wildlife-themed goodies, a pond building workshop, and guides telling you what wildlife you can spot from each hide.
Headlining the Festival will be a rare chance to spend the evening with a couple of well-known faces.
The BBC's One Show presenter Mike Dilger will be giving an entertaining talk on 'The Trials and Tribulations of a Wildlife Presenter' at 7.30pm on Saturday 4 December. Although for many working in the field would be a dream come true, it has its challenges, which Mike will describe in this humorous talk.
Then renowned author and producer from the BBC's Natural History Unit, Stephen Moss, will also give a talk based on readings from his best-selling collection of columns for The Guardian at 7.30pm on Friday 3 December.
Stephen will take us on a fascinating trip down memory lane as he looks back to a more innocent age of boyhood birding experiences around the London suburbs, Minsmere, Stodmarsh and Dungeness; before embarking on a whistle-stop tour around the globe, from St Kilda to the Masai Mara, and Trinidad and Tobago to Antarctica.
Tickets for both evening talks must be pre-booked (email eleanor.wise@wwt.org.uk) and cost £15 to include a drink.
The Festival will also offer plenty for families with den building, a children's decoy game, arts and crafts in the discovery centre, animal gingerbread shape decorating, meet the mammal demonstrations and the chance to handle amphibians at special Toad Hall talks.
Sally Munro, Slimbridge's Marketing Manager, said: "Winter is a fantastic time of year for seeing wildlife in the UK because so many birds, such as our famous Bewick's swans take advantage of our relatively mild climate.
"The Winter Wildlife Festival will have something for everyone from those who have a casual interest in the outdoors, wildlife photography or birdwatching to the serious wildlife enthusiast, who is already out exploring the countryside each weekend.
"There will also be lots of fun activities for families at the weekend from things like arts and crafts inside the discovery centre to outdoor activities such as den building.
"Make a date in your diary and keep checking our website to see updates on the schedule of events."
Visit wwt.org.uk/slimbridge for more information on the festival. Normal admission charges apply throughout the week with a few events incurring an extra charge.