By Kate Hodges
31st August 2022
EVENT RE-USE, RECYCLE, RESEARCH
Why not use Zero Waste Week as a spur to double down on your commitment to the environment? Sign up for a daily email that includes new initiatives, hints and tips to reduce the size of your rubbish bin, cut down on single-use plastics, save money and help conserve the environment and planet’s resources. The Zero Waste Week community is also a great year-round resource for practical suggestions and fun! Over at The Green Parent, we have suggestions to help cut waste in your kitchen, (find more ideas and recipes here), make pickles with food scraps, and reduce your rubbish.
EVENT DOUGH NUTS
It’s Sourdough September! This annual celebration of genuine sourdough and the people who make it is an excuse to eat more sourdough and think about making your own. Find out the difference between sourdough and sour faux and where to find the real deal here or find out more about making your own here
EVENTS NORTH VS SOUTH
Hull’s extraordinary annual Freedom Festival is a great time to visit the artistically throbbing city. The five-day festival features spectacular outdoor arts shows, circus, carnivals and interactive installations to explore. This year’s event is packed with events for all ages – the spectacular, free MO and the Red Ribbon sees a giant child puppet walking through pyrotchnics, puppetry and displays while smaller children will enjoy the riotous The Little Things and the Roar Race, which features tricycles that zoom faster the more a child screams into a tin can (not for the faint-eared). And there’s plenty more for the entire family to take in; the intense Born To Protest, a hip-hop dance show that highlights black excellence, a falconry event with VERY large birds, and the brilliant folk-ritual film Arcadia brought to life by members of Portishead and Goldfrapp. It’s worth making the journey up the road to Hull, wherever you live in the country. Mostly free, some ticketed events.
Meanwhile, down south, snaking through London bringing trade, travel and people, the Thames is one of the most important waterways in the UK. For the whole of September, the waterway is celebrated; the Totally Thames festival sees the river come alive with performance, incredible art installations, history walks, projections and sculptures that emerge at low tide. This year, head to Rotherhithe’s South Dock for an evening of film and music aboard a boat, peer at a camera obscura in a tent, or visit the mysterious Strand Lane ‘Roman’ Baths in Westminster. Later in the month, the archaeology walks, solargraphy workshops and the Great River Race are unmissable! All September. Full programme here. Free and ticketed.
EVENT SPOKEY DOKEY
This year’s AJ Bell Tour of Britain sees some of the best cyclists in the world speeding through the stunning scenery of Scotland and England. The race starts on September 4 in Aberdeen, winds through Hawick, Durham, Redcar, Mansfield, Gloucester, Dorset, then onto the Isle of Wight, where it finishes at The Needles on September 11. As well as watching the riders swish by, expect hundreds of free roadside events, live music, pedal-themed parties and chances to scope out the latest in cycle tech. Or why not take in the route-long Land Art competition? Get your gang along, and be inspired to get your two-wheelers out this autumn.
EVENT DOODLE DANDY
Every year, a selection of famous faces from the worlds of art, sport and entertainment pick up their pens, paints and pencils to create one off doodles, which are auctioned to raise funds for Epilepsy Action. Why not take inspiration from their offbeat artwork and create some pretty, funny, or crazy doodles of your own? Find out all about the joys of random and spontaneous artwork with your family here.
BONUS!
This Saturday is National Cinema Day, when hundreds of picture houses across the UK come together to offer tickets to all shows from just £3. Why not take the opportunity to watch something together on the big screen. Find out more here!
WHAT WE’RE EATING BABA GHANOUSH Byron Smith with Tess Robinson bring you recipes to make use of a glut from the garden (or an abundant veg box!) This is a classic baba ghanoush we love for an afternoon snack or to slather on sandwiches.
WHAT WE’RE READING 21 money-saving tips for parents: Raising a family is expensive, but our tips will help you make savings, cut costs, find freebies and shop smart, whether you have a baby, toddler or older child. Read more here
