New Southampton Urban Wild Festival to ‘turn grey into green and concrete into community’
PUBLISHED ON: 2 MAY 2025A new free week-long festival will celebrate Southampton as a vibrant hub of nature, creativity, and community this May half term.
The Urban Wild Festival will showcase Southampton’s green and blue wild spaces and champion all voices to promote the identity and artistry that surrounds these places.
It is a programme of more than 30 events from 26 May to 1 June hosted by a variety of green and community groups and local organisations spread across Southampton venues.
The programme includes walks, talks, and group cycle rides, as well as urban gardening, bird watching, and workshops such as creative arts and sculpting, knitting mini hedgehogs, and making bee hotels.
Urban Wild on the Common – the festival’s grand finale – will round up the week on Sunday 1 June by transforming a corner of Southampton Common into a space filled with stalls, marquees, performances, and music.
The flagship event will include:
- a sneak peak of the highly anticipated youth-led, climate and nature-based theatre performance ‘Bringing the Outside In’ from Theatre for Life
- a creative writing walk led by Yarrow Townsend, New Forest Writer in Residence, a project supported by the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA)
- a chance to meet local organisations, from Transition Southampton and the Environment Centre to the New Forest NPA and the University of Southampton
- walks and bike rides led by Kidical Mass and members of the New Forest Youth Board.
VIP speakers will include MP Satvir Kaur, Southampton’s Lord Mayor David Shields, Southampton National Park City Chair Christelle Blunden, and New Forest NPA staff.
The Festival is 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 25-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
Southampton National Park City Coordinator, Rae Turpin, said:
‘Urban Wild is a city-wide celebration of the deeply rooted connections between people and the wider aspects of Southampton.
‘Born from recognition of the inspiring work already happening by grassroots groups, individuals, and local organisations to care for, connect with, and restore nature across the city, the festival is an opportunity to showcase these collective efforts and catalyse even more action to safeguard urban nature.
‘With the energy of the YouCAN (Youth for Climate and Nature) scheme at its core, Urban Wild is about adopting an intergenerational, collective approach to climate and biodiversity action.
‘The festival is an invitation to everyone to get to know the urban wilds on your doorstep, reimagine how we see our city, listen to its hidden stories, and to be part of a movement that turns grey into green, and concrete into community.’
New Forest National Park Authority member and Chair of the Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN) partnership board, Brice Stratford, said:
‘As the closest city to the New Forest National Park, and as a nominated National Park City in its own right, Southampton and the Forest have always shared strong ties.
‘Moving forward it is vital that these meaningful bonds are nurtured, and that people in Southampton – and young people in particular – keep a living connection with the environment that’s around them, and with the nature that thrives on their doorsteps.
‘Supported by the YouCAN scheme, Southampton National Park City’s Urban Wild festival is a great chance for local communities to connect with these wonderful urban green and blue spaces, as well as being an exciting opportunity to build relationships with groups that are dedicated to encouraging such engagement.
‘I believe this is just the beginning, and cannot wait to see all that’s yet to come.’
About the Urban Wild festival:
- The Urban Wild festival runs from Monday 26 May until Sunday 1 June.
- More than 30 events are organised at venues across Southampton from Monday 26 May until Saturday 31 May.
- The festival will culminate with Urban Wild on the Common on Sunday 1 June between 11am and 9pm. This will be on Southampton Common near Hawthorns Urban Wildlife Centre.
- Active travel options are encouraged to Urban Wild events.
- More information on Urban Wild can be found here: https://www.southamptonnpc.com/urbanwild
