Bristol Festival of Nature

The Bristol Festival of Nature is public engagement on a grand scale. It's an imaginative weekend of films, animal encounters, exhibitions, walks, talks, workshops and competitions - all completely free of charge.  No wonder it attracts around 30,000 visitors who come to join in the UK's biggest celebration of the natural world.

Background

The objectives of the Festival are to promote the understanding of, and encourage learning about the natural world and environmental issues, through a variety of interactive educational opportunities suitable for all ages. The target audience is families and individuals with a keen interest in natural history and the environment. The Festival has become an annual event that takes place at the beginning of June and is spread over a number of locations in and around Bristol Harbourside. Over 100 local and national conservation and environmental organizations contribute to the event.

The event is organised by the Bristol Natural History Consortium. This is made up of a number of partners, including the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England. The consortium employ a small team to run their activities. 

Before the event

In 2008 the festival planning cycle took about 6 months. The programme was developed by the Festival Manager, the Festival Director and the dedicated Management Group within the Consortium, comprising of a representative of each of the Consortium's member organisations. PR and Media efforts began in March, under the leadership of a professional PR company. Promotional materials were printed and distributed in April/May. A Market Manager was put in place in February to coordinate the recruitment of traders and manage the market side of the Festival. A Volunteers' Coordinator was brought in April to manage the volunteer's programme.

Raising the profile

The Festival relies on a strong marketing campaign, strategically guided and supported by a professional PR company. The campaign is evaluated and redesigned each year on the basis of the strength of the Festival's current programme and the successes and shortcomings of the previous year. Its profile has grown in the past couple of years and attracted an increasing level of interest from national media.

In addition:

• In 2008, 20,000 copies of the Festival programme and 7,000 postcards were professionally distributed throughout the region
• The Festival has a dedicated website at www.festivalofnature.org
• Marketing and promotion support is also received through each of our Consortium members (ie Bristol Zoo Gardens has a mailing list of 27,000 local individuals)
• We promote the Festival through advertising avenues in the city, as well as through banners across the festival squares: Anchor Square, Millennium Square, Waterfront Square and Lloyd's Amphitheatre

The event itself (2008)

Setting up took place over two days (Thursday and Friday) and the site was derigged in one day (Monday). The Festival runs from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday, so we need a lot of volunteers.  We were overwhelmed by the response we had to our call for volunteers, and the support we received from media partners. The use of recruitment websites (www.environmentjob.co.uk in particular), in addition to the use of partner's databases, helped guarantee a nationwide response to our offer of volunteering opportunities. This resulted in around 140 volunteers becoming involved with the festival in 2008.

After the event

A full and comprehensive evaluation is carried out internally soon after the festival ends. Organisations and individuals involved in the planning and implementation, as well as traders, exhibitors and volunteers, are asked to contribute. The public is also involved but at a more marginal level, as we have not been able to dedicate resources to a formal and science based evaluation until now. This is due to change in 2009 and we worked with our partners to design and deliver a more accurate and more widely spread evaluation process. (More information about this years festival will be available towards the end of 2009.)

An event with a future

The Festival of Nature model has been tested and refined over the past 5 years, and is now an established event in the City of Bristol's calendar. It's sustainable due to funding coming from different sources and the efforts of all involved to keep expenses down and to maximise sources of income. Each year we aim to increase footfall, the variety of audiences that the event attracts and the number and quality of activities on offer to visitors. 

Key partners

The Bristol Natural History Consortium is a collaboration between Avon Wildlife Trust, BBC Natural History Unit, Bristol City Council, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Defra, Environment Agency, The University of Bristol, The University of the West of England, Wildscreen and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Find out more at www.festivalofnature.org.uk