Come and make some new friends!

“Oh Pig, I am so super duper excited that we are going to the Hay Festival this Summer!” said Florentine happily, as she popped her Whizz Bang Crunchy Choccy Cake into the oven.

“It’s going to be such fun!”

Pig grinned and did a little dance.

“We’re going to read stories, and make new friends… and all the marvellous children are going to help us make bunting for our wonderful tent!”

Pig was trying to pull on his favourite spotty wellies, just to make sure they fit. He was so very thrilled at the prospect of wearing them at such a prestigious occasion.

“And Eva Katzler will be there to meet everyone and Jess Mikhail, (the very clever girl who drew us, Pig) will be there too! Gosh Pig, I can hardly wait!”

Pig wasn’t having much luck with his wellies at all, so Florentine bent down to help.

“Now Pig, you will behave, won’t you? We do so want everyone to like us. Hobbycraft have given us lots of wonderful arty crafty things to help us make our bunting so you must be on your very best behaviour and… oh Pig! What’s this?”

Pig tipped his left welly upside down and out came…. A half eaten (not-very-crunchy-anymore) apple!

“Oh Pig” giggled Florentine. “You are silly! Come on, let’s go for a lovely walk and we’ll be home in time for cake”.

And with that, they marched out the door.

————-

How wonderful! Thank you Eva. Come and make friends with Florentine and Pig (and Eva and Jess) at the festival on Wednesay 6 June at 1pm and 2:30pm  For all you tweeters, catch up with their Hay shenanigans by following @florentine_pig and if you’re a keen bean cook check out their short cookery videos over on YouTube. Phew!

THANK YOU

Phew!  What a year.  We had an incredibly jolly time and we hope you all did too.  Thank you for making Hay Fever so much fun.  There are sooooo many highlights, so we did a little survey around the office (and the surrounding pavement) to see which bits stood out for everyone:

• The Duchess of Cornwall meeting two girls styling out a more feline look.
• Chris Evans shouting ‘Hay! Hay! Hay!’ from the little Elmley Theatre to 9m listeners across the nation. The finalists of the 500 Words competition were all fantastic – you can see all the pics and stories here.
• Hannah Shaw drawing on The Hexagon, yes on the actual tent!
• Treasure hunting, pirate style, round the site for Tom’s Gift.
• Making video postcards with HKKP – we still have our (now slightly deflated) red balloon.
• Creating wooden animals with the National Trust and willow wands with Lorraine Weeks.
• Picking Christopher Lloyd’s pockets.  The Giant Wallbook will be at the Natural History Museum next.
• Watching Popty Ping (yes, that is the Welsh for microwave) – an impromptu spoken word medley in the garden by The Beacons Project and Arthur Smith.

And now for the pictures (courtesy of the awesome Finn Beales & Michaela Rogers):

The new children's laureate storytelling at Hay Fever

Cartwheeling in the garden

Jason Bradbury whizzing about in our electric powered car on site.

The What on Earth? Giant Wallbook in the Hay Fever Courtyard

Activities in Wiggly Wigglers Garden.

Celebrate with RSPB Cymru

This year is RSPB Cymru’s 100^th Birthday and we’re asking everyone to join us to celebrate 100 years of working in Wales. RSPB Cymru’s 100^th birthday is a historic milestone as it allows us to reflect on the achievements of the past 100 years, where we have worked to restore the fortunes of some of Wales’ most iconic birds and protect our varied landscapes and habitats. Come along and meet us at the Hay Festival and show your support by wearing one of our limited edition pin badges available at the Hay Festival, all featuring the special RSPB Cymru 100 logo.

Do your children want to explore nature?

Come to the RSPB tent to book your children (Ages 7 – 11) onto our Nature Trail Outdoor Learning Experience, where they can have a go at Pond Dipping, Bug Hunting, Rainbow Spotting and Bird Watching. Send your children on a lifelong learning experience that allows them to take a hands on approach to exploring our natural world.

From Monday 30th May to Friday 3rd June,
There will be 2 trails per day:

Morning: 10:00 – 12:00
Afternoon: 1:00 – 3:00

There is no charge, but you must book your child’s space on the trail at the RSPB Cymru stand prior to the event and meet at the stand 10 minutes before your chosen trail time departure.

There is a maximum allowance of 20 children per nature trail where 2 of our brilliant field teachers will take them on a nature adventure.

The walk starts at the RSPB Cymru stand and moves on up to the old Golf Course, where is comes to an end back at the stand. The trail lasts approximately 2 hours. (Our stand will be displaying a map to identify the trail route).

Take our Nature Trail and explore nature together!

We’ve also got lots of fun activities on the RSPB Cymru stand which you can do as a family together. For instance, our self-guided Town Trail will let you explore the nooks and crannies of Hay, at your own pace, and in your own time. Don’t forget to come back and tell us your answers! Children also have a chance to compose their own piece of literature in our Wild Writing Competition where the winner’s entry will be published in our member’s newsletter!