Urban nature to be celebrated at park festival

Families are encouraged to dress up as bees and butterflies for a parade at Heaton Park

Thousands of people are expected to attend a festival celebrating urban nature at a city's biggest park.

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust, which helps organise the Manchester Festival of Nature, is encouraging families to dress up as insects for a pollinator parade at Heaton Park on Sunday.

Alan Wright, from the trust, said it was "a wonderful excuse to get families - and their dogs - to come along to the park dressed as their favourite insects, which are generally bees or butterflies".

"It is also a good way to get the message over that pollinators are important."

'Wellbeing benefits'

About 6,000 people have attended previous events, which have been held since 2019.

Organisers from Manchester Nature Consortium said there would also be a “mini-exhibition” of wildlife specimens from Manchester Museum.

Rachel Webster, who is also a museum curator, said: “As the world's population increasingly lives in urban areas, I think it is really important that we get opportunities to enjoy nearby nature.

“For everyone to be able to access green spaces, with high biodiversity value and the health and wellbeing benefits that this brings.”