Get ready for a free weekend of adventure, creativity, and fun at the Woodland Festival 2026, returning to Thoresby Park on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July. With free entry (car park fees apply), this is the perfect family-friendly festival to reconnect with nature, try new skills, and enjoy time outdoors. Celebrating traditional woodland heritage crafts and helping keep these valuable skills alive for future generations, there will be plenty to see and do for all ages at this Sherwood Forest Trust event.
Benny Shakes from the Blue Badge Bunch is bringing his brilliantly bonkers family show Slugageddon! Led by comedian and real-life gardener Benny, who lives with cerebral palsy, this interactive, eco-themed adventure is packed with slugs, games, mayhem and surprisingly useful gardening tips. Bursting with humour and hands-on fun, Slugageddon! explores biodiversity while celebrating nature, difference and inclusion – perfect for curious kids and their grown-ups.
If you prefer to slow down and get creative, take a walk with artist Martin Clarkson and have a go at sketching some of the majestic trees of Thoresby Park. Storytime takes a wild twist with the Trust’s Wild Man of the Woods, who will share tales of the forest for young and old alike. Plus, families can join in the treasure hunt or toast marshmallows on the fire with Hairy Tom’s Forest School.
Crafts and skills workshops offer something for everyone. Watch Peartree Garden Services carve wooden creations with their chainsaws, have a go at blacksmithing, willow weaving, and pole lathe turning with local bodgers, or test your aim with archery alongside the Sherwood Outlaws. Most activities are free or pay-what-you-want, and some charge a small fee.
This year also introduces a special Wellbeing in the Woods area, offering visitors the chance to slow down and reconnect with nature. Join guided forest bathing sessions with The Nature Coach, discover the healing traditions of forest medicine with Muji, and join Hannah from Kindful and Wild on her foraging walks, where you can spot edible plants and even sample syrups she’s made from foraged finds.
Food and drink will be available over the weekend, with Tucks Brewery on site offering refreshing local beers. The Woodland Festival is made possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors, including main sponsors Bowring Transport and B&B Tractors, alongside valued partners The Barcode Warehouse and other local businesses who share Sherwood Forest Trust’s commitment to community and conservation.
For more information, visit http://www.sherwoodforest.org.uk/.