Flowers of the Dales Festival
The Yorkshire Dales have a remarkable variety of wildflowers, but we must not take them for granted. Many species and ecosystems are in danger of disappearing due to threats like habitat destruction and climate change. We need to act now to help protect them for future generations.
The Flowers of the Dales Festival was launched by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust in 2009. The Festival offers over 120 fun and exciting events each year from March to October, run by us, partner organisations and individuals throughout the Dales. The Festival aims to highlight the fantastic wildflowers and the habitats we have in the Yorkshire Dales. It also gives everyone an opportunity to appreciate and understand the importance of conserving them. Over 10,000 people have taken part in the previous three Festivals, with numbers growing every year. Four out of five people who have attended a Flowers of the Dales Festival Event said their experience was 'excellent'.
“I would like to thank and congratulate your organisation for putting together the Flowers of the Dales festival. It was a wonderful experience and we learnt a lot. We look forward to returning next summer to sample some of the other wildflower walks.” Barbara Edenborough, Swansea
The diverse landscape of the Yorkshire Dales offers an incredible range of habitats for wild flowers:
- The canopy floor of ancient woodlands is the perfect environment for bluebells, primroses and wood avens
- A single hay meadow can hold up to 120 species of wild flowers and other plants, a magnificent sight in summer
- The moors are ablaze with heather and cotton grass in late August
- The windswept uplands and hidden flushes of the Three Peaks are home to rare and unusual species such as purple saxifrage and English sandwort
- Deep within the limestone pavement, in the fissures known as grykes, many rare ferns and wild flowers find refuge
- Roadside verges and railway embankments harbour relics from ancient meadows - wood cranesbill, melancholy thistle and meadowsweet.
From the common to the rare, the festival aims to celebrate them all!
The 2012 Festival
Running from March to November, the 2012 Flowers of the Dales Festival will include a fantastic range of more than 130 activities and events, all linked to wildflowers, wildflower habitats and the species they support. Look out for fungi, butterfly, moth, honey bee and bug events as well as talks on how you can get involved in monitoring and recording bumblebee species.
A free programme with details of each event is available to download now - please click here.
All of the events can also be viewed on our website - please visit the Get Involved page.
Read more about the meadows of the Dales in our Hay Time in the Yorkshire Dales book, which you can buy now from our online shop.
Acknowledgements
The 2009 and 2010 Festivals were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Countdown 2010, while the 2011 Festival was funded by donations from our supporters and the Yorkshire Dales Society. The 2012 Festival has been funded by Natural England, the Yorkshire Dales Society, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yoredale Natural History Society and the Linden Charitable Trust. We would also like to pay a special tribute to Mr Reynolds whose generous gift to us in his Will helped make this year's Flowers of the Dales Festival possible.