Hundreds celebrate Southampton’s incredible nature at week-long Urban Wild festival
PUBLISHED ON: 17 JUNE 2025Hundreds of people and dozens of organisations took part in Southampton’s first city-wide nature-focused Urban Wild festival.
Urban Wild was led by Southampton National Park City with support from the New Forest National Park Authority as part of the YouCAN (Youth for Climate and Nature) scheme, to celebrate urban green and blue spaces in the city.
The week-long festival encouraged families and people of all ages to connect with nature on their doorsteps, through creative, intergenerational, and sustainably themed attractions.
The festival was made up of 36 individually organised events with nearly 60 organisations and performers taking part on the final day – Urban Wild on the Common.
Around 800 people attended this family-friendly event on Southampton Common with hundreds more visiting events throughout May half term, helping them learn more about green spaces and enjoy things happening in their community.
The calendar of events included an ‘Interspecies Democracy’ council meeting and a Grow Your Own event at Aldermoor Community Farm.
The theatrical Interspecies Democracy meeting gave a voice to plants and animals represented by people, while inspiring everyone to think differently about how humans relate to other species.
Grow Your Own was an open farm event, welcoming people for a day of education and activities with animals on-site and initiatives to grow and sell food and plants.
Urban Wild on the Common closed out the festival on Sunday 1 June with stalls and marquees hosting dance, theatre, and music performances, workshops, storytelling, and guided walks.
New Forest National Park Authority member and Chair of the Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN) partnership board, Brice Stratford, said:
‘It was inspiring to see so many people out at Urban Wild on the Common because that’s what commons are for; shared community in shared environments.
‘Southampton is one of the New Forest’s nearest cities and within the National Park Authority’s halo, so proper engagement is vital because choices and activities in the city have a direct impact on the Forest, and vice versa.
‘We’ve been working with Southampton National Park City as part of the YouCAN scheme, to help connect young people with the environment and the communities that are already around them.
‘The world is made up of countless homes and countless communities. Not everyone can save the planet, but everyone can help their home, and that on-the-ground help begins with people, with places like Southampton’s commons, and with projects like Urban Wild.’
Southampton National Park City Chair, Christelle Blunden, said:
‘I’m overjoyed with the response of the Southampton community to our call for events, performances, talks, and visionary activities.
‘The impact of Urban Wild reached the BBC and Parliament, but most importantly fostered learning and connections between communities.
‘Particular highlights were hearing the voices of young people and, indirectly, of other species.
‘The main ingredients required for a better future for nature are imagination and commitment, and Southampton has demonstrated both.’
Urban Wild was supported as part of the YouCAN (Youth for Climate and Nature) scheme through a Climate Action Fund grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.
The YouCAN scheme is made possible thanks to National Lottery players and is aimed at 11- to 30-year-olds to encourage more community-led action to tackle the nature and climate emergencies.
Find out more about the YouCAN scheme here: www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/YouCAN
