So I must admit this event was in the middle of August but I thought I would save it for a rainy day. Seeing as the warm weather is leaving us and the event itself reminds me of warmth i thought I would publish it it out now. So the title of this blog is what does nature say to you? Personally it means a kind of inner peace or equilibrium – maybe it just calms me and makes me feel like I am part of something much larger than myself. The point is everyone has something to say about nature and we invited people down to Marymass to tell us what.
Marymass Festival has been celebrated in Irvine for centuries and has developed over the years into a major multifaceted community event incorporating several Core Events. The event is recognised locally and nationally as it annually attracts thousands of visitors during a 12-day period in mid-August. It is based historically on a medieval religious festival and local horse show.
SWT, RSPB and North Ayrshire Council – our tents before they were greeted by mass amounts of people.
The three organisations I partner with were all down for the beginning of the Marymass festival on August 15th. Our goal for the day was to try and engage as many people as possible and have fun! We had prepared games, events, bioblitz boards, binoculars, colouring in badges, expert birders, leaflets, and plenty of my natural charm and charisma. Our tents were jam packed that it was impossible to not say “Ooooooooo” and for the kids to just charge in to the tent and marvel at everything around them. There was a fantastic buzz (no pun intended) around the community for the beginning of the festival and ourselves as we knew that with the sun shinning we would have bright happy faces – and lots of them. Oh and how right we were, we must have talked to over a couple of hundred people within the first couple of hours late morning alone.
A child with a teeny tiny snail
A crab just chilling out
Where the lovely creatures came from
Colouring in games for kids
Caption the animals thoughts on a nice new habitat for your garden
With all of the fun and games aside there is a very serious tone to the event as well. We need to engage kids and adults of all backgrounds about nature and hope that it sticks with them, hope that the day will have a positive impact on the way they view nature – clinging to the hope that the wildlife packed events filled them with a joy and a new level of respect for nature. The day was made much easier by the fact that some grey seals decided to have a sunbathe at the Irvine Harbour in line with our tents. I have to thank the grey seals for their sunbathing location as they were bring people along in their droves. With an event this size it is really exciting telling people about all the work the three organisations I partner with do together to try and improve green space for wildlife. It is also a shame we do not get to meet up and gather our combined resources more often. On the other hand the fact that we were all together on the same day sends a good message to the public that seperate organisations are working together for a common cause.
Throughout the day I was asking young and old of various backgrounds what they thought nature meant to them or what does nature say to you? I thought I would leave this blog with the final picture and you can think about what nature means to you? I find this a simple and effective way of engaging people, to create a bond with them and the great outdoors – at the end of the day though its not just what do you think about nature but also are you willing to help with that little bit extra to maintain it.
What does nature say to you?