A FIRST-ever Exmoor Festival of Nature is being organised by the Exmoor Society later this month.

The event will be held at Nettlecombe Court on Saturday, May 25, from 10am to 4pm.

It is intended as a celebration of everything that makes the national park special, from glorious oak woodlands and tumbling rivers to vast moorland and dramatic coastline.

A spokesperson said: “The festival is one enormous day of fun, free nature activities, stalls and screenings, food and drink, music, art, and amazing talks by some of Britain’s best-known environmentalists.

“There will be something for everybody with a host of exciting national and local organisations on site to inspire visitors with marvels of the natural world.”

Among the exhibitors will be Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Devon Wildlife Trust, Down to Zero, Exmoor National Park, Exmoor Natural History Society, Exmoor Rivers and Streams Group, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, Geckoella, Horner Farm, Moorland Mousie Trust and Exmoor Pony Centre, National Trust, Quantock Landscape Partnership Scheme, Sea Watch Foundation, Somerset Rare Plants Group, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Watchet Hedgehogs, West Somerset Wildways, Westcountry Rivers Trust, and the Woodland Play Centre.

The spokesperson said: “As well as hands on and interactive activities from our exhibitors there will also be a jam-packed line up of interesting talks happening throughout the day, workshops to take part in, and fantastic music and entertainment from artists, musicians, and performers.”

One of the speakers is Devon Wildlife Trust chief executive Nick Bruce-White, who will discuss whether there is scope for a wilder Exmoor where nature and natural processes can recover alongside a thriving human population.

The society is encouraging visitors to walk or cycle to the festival, or, if travelling by car, to fill every seat and park at Combe Sydenham, from where a free shuttle bus will take visitors to the site.

The Exmoor Society was founded in 1958 and works to conserve the national park and has produced some of the seminal research and publications which provide evidence for continuing protection of Exmoor.

More festival information can be obtained by emailing [email protected].