Local 11 to 18-year-olds deliver Lancaster’s first Green Festival

Over the summer, Lancaster and Morecambe youth-led charity (E2M) have been working with professional practitioners and artists to deliver free sessions to local young people. Everything they have made and learnt will be showcased at Lancaster’s Scotch Quarry.

The diverse mix of eco-friendly activities were devised by the charity’s Youth Board, based on experiences they felt their peer group would like to engage in.

Escape2Make’s production executive, Kyle McKenzie said: "We want to offer an antidote to endless scrolling and gaming and inspire young people to get into the great outdoors over the summer.

“It’s fantastic to see them foraging, wild cooking, making candles around campfires and repairing and building bikes.

“The young people even got to fly drones over Morecambe Beach to get a bird’s eye view of art they’d drawn with rakes in the sand”.

The workshops – funded by the Areti Trust, Arts Council England, Barton Grange and The Flower Bowl - have generated over 2000 hours of creativity all for free.

E2M’s marketing and admin lead, Sharon Burns, said: “The young people have worked hard and played hard over their summer holidays, and we can’t wait for them to show their local community what they have produced and learnt.

“It’s been wonderful to watch them connect with each other and become fully absorbed in the activities”.

“We’re hoping to build on the success of this year’s festival in 2023”.

The Green Festival takes place on Saturday 27th August from 11am to 4pm at Scotch Quarry Park, off Wyresdale Road in Lancaster.

As well as the young people’s showcase, there will also be free music and theatre performances, food and drink vendors and workshops for people of all ages to take part in. For further information contact [email protected] or visit www.escape2make.org