Celebrating Community and Nature at the Wild Waters Festival

From 31^st May – 15^th June, a brand-new festival is making its way through the local landscape in Wiltshire and BANES – the Wild Waters Festival. Spanning from Wingfield to Batheaston and reaching up to Box and Colerne, this community-driven celebration invites people to reconnect with nature, reflect on their environmental impact, and come together to inspire positive change.

So, what is the Wild Waters Festival? Well, it’s a cultural and awareness-raising event; a vibrant collective effort of a growing group of local councils and nature groups, representing communities along the Bristol River Avon and its tributaries, between Bradford on Avon and Batheaston. Participants include town and parish councillors, local nature groups, churches, schools, film clubs, pubs, boat clubs and charities to name a few. Each organisation or group is contributing by hosting their own events; from riverside walks and art installations, and workshops to performances, totalling to 42 different events throughout the festival. Through these happenings, the Wild Waters Festival aims to highlight the vital link between people and the planet, encouraging awareness, action, and hope.

As part of this, Wiltshire Music Centre is proud to be hosting the acclaimed show,  Three Acres and a Cow. Part Ted-talk, part folk club sing-a-long, this thought-provoking performance explores the history of land rights and protest song. It combines storytelling, folk music, activism and historical insight, portraying the connection between the Norman Conquest and Peasants’ Revolt with current issues like the housing crisis, reparations, climate breakdown and food sovereignty through the Enclosures, English Civil War and Industrial Revolution. With its themes of land, justice, and collective action, Three Acres and a Cow offers a poignant contribution to the festival’s focus on community and environmental responsibility. Tickets include a Pay It Forward option, which subsidise tickets for those on a lower income, and as the show takes place on the last night of the festival, we’ll also be hosting a private celebratory after-party for the festival organisers.

While the festival is a celebration of nature and local identity, it also carries a strong message of concern about the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss seen in and along the river. At its core, the Wild Waters Festival is about inspiring positive change. The festival encourages reflection on the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, but does so in a spirit of connection, creativity and care for the environment that we all share.