Up On The Downs big summer festival is almost here

A fun fortnight of exciting activities to celebrate our local countryside and heritage will be up and running from Saturday 25 July to Sunday 9 August. The programme offers over 50 mostly free events, covering a variety of arts, wildlife and history activities - so there should be something for everyone!

The festival is being held in venues across Dover and Folkestone and the surrounding countryside. Events include a variety of fun family days, from bug safaris and a graffiti alphabet workshop, to sending a rocket to space to take photos, family yoga sessions, filming rock pool rock stars, and a GPS treasure hunt day.

Creative events include art workshops, evening theatre performances, and inspiring nature writing classes. The programme is crammed full of wildlife encounters during countryside walks, with evening bat walks, reptile days and moth trapping. As well as five archaeological dig events, there will also be an evening at Fortress Dover at Dover Castle, fascinating history walks, and an open evening at the Drop Redoubt. For a more fast paced experience, join a Landrover Safari across the cliffs, spend an evening running 5km around a nature reserve, or join a leisurely cycle.

The festival is being organised by the Up on the Downs Landscape Partnership Scheme, a 5 year Heritage Lottery Funded scheme that aims to conserve and enhance local countryside and heritage, as well as providing ways for local people to enjoy their local landscape.

Ruth Tyson, Community Engagement and Learning Manager for Up on the Downs, said: "The Big Summer Festival will showcase the amazing variety of activities and places that people can enjoy and explore this summer. Most of these events are free, so this is a wonderful opportunity for local people to try something new."

Visit Dover Museum or Folkestone Town Hall to pick up a brochure, or download one at www.uponthedowns.org.uk - or for more information call 01304 872138.