The Forty Farms Fair returns to Rheged this weekend to celebrate local farmers, suppliers and the great outdoors.
Developed with Kendal Farmers Market, the event at the centre near Penrith takes place on Saturday, July 20.
The theme for this event combines seasonal local produce and farm diversification with the health and well-being benefits of the great outdoors and connecting with nature.
On the day there will be a chance to buy seasonal food direct from the farmers and local producers and hear a line-up of talks including James Normington from Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Harrison Ward – the Fell Foodie and Jannike Taylor from Eden Yard and see the new British documentary Wilding, plus take in two new exhibitions.
From 10am to 3pm, there will also be over 25 stalls selling food, drink and handmade gifts and crafts including Heartwood Poultry, Torpenhow Cheese Co, Lovingly Artisan, Pennington’s Spirits, Eden Yard, the Legendary Sauce Co, Handmade Crafthouse and Inspired by Lakeland to name a few.
Entry to the event is free and there is also a chance to win a special hamper, with the proceeds from the raffle going to Growing Well, which enables mental health and wellbeing through growing organic vegetables.
Visitors will also have the chance to visit Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before, showing until Sunday September 1 in the Rheged Gallery. The exhibition celebrates over 30 years of the work of prize-winning, internationally best-selling illustrator, wildlife artist and author, Jackie Morris.
For the first time, her life’s work is displayed together, with over 250 original artworks from over 30 children’s books. The exhibition is £5 to enter with under 3s free and includes children’s activities, soundscapes, film and a chance to buy the artwork too.
Running alongside the gallery exhibition, visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the latest exhibition in the Community Gallery – The Spell Garden. The exhibition showcases the proposal for the creation of The Spell Garden, designed by Nicola Hills from Kirkby Lonsdale.
Inspired by the books The Lost Words and The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, this is a chance to see Nicola’s designs for this magical garden at the YMCA at Lakeside, along the south eastern shores of Windermere. Once funding is secured, this will be an inclusive and permanent place of inspiration for people to connect with and wildlife to inhabit.
There are also free talks throughout the day in the lecture theatre:
11am – A 200-mile Coast to Coast Nature Walk with James Normington. To coincide with the opening of our new Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before Exhibition, Jamie Normington from Cumbria Wildlife Trust brings music and stories of wildlife and art as he shares his 2019 adventure, walking 200 miles across Northern England to fundraise for “The Lost Words” so that over 200 Cumbrian schools could have free copies of the book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.
Noon – The Seed of an Idea from the Golden Fields of Eden with Jannike Taylor of Eden Yard. Join Jannike Taylor of Eden Yard and hear how this new farm business evolved from sowing the seeds to growing and bottling cold-pressed rapeseed oil found in Michelin-starred kitchens across the North.
1pm – How the Mountains Saved my Life with Harrison Ward, Fell Foodie. Hear from Harrison Ward, perhaps better known as Fell Foodie, a Cumbrian outdoor cook who loves to recreate restaurant-style meals on minimal equipment (usually a camp stove) in remote locations, on how he takes modern practices back to their primal roots as well as sharing the importance of time outdoors for physical and mental wellbeing.
2pm – Wilding | Plus Pre-recorded Q&A with Isabella Tree. Wilding is a British documentary based on Isabella Tree’s bestselling book of the same name, which has sold 350k copies across the UK. The film shares the charming and hopeful story of Isabella and her husband when they inherited Knepp, a 400-year-old estate. They recognised how sick the land was and took on a groundbreaking radical experiment to create a place where mussel-diving pigs, storks and butterflies find sanctuary, and where thriving flora and a vast array of animals have taken back the land. Tickets are available to book online or in person at Rheged’s ticket desk.
Claire Logan-Stephens, head of programming at Rheged, said: “We can’t wait to bring back another Forty Farms Fair with Kendal Farmers Market and Lovingly Artisan to Rheged this weekend.
“There will be plenty to do from visiting our two new exhibitions, meeting producers and hearing inspiring talks about innovative farming techniques and the value of the great outdoors and connecting with nature.”
