With Sherwood Forest Trust Woodland Festival coming up this weekend, Jo Kingsley caught up with founder Graeme Turner, to talk about re-connecting with nature, keeping folk traditions alive, and celebrating Nottingham’s incredible creative talent...
I’m a born-and-bred Nottingham girl. Many of my childhood days were spent running around Sherwood Forest in a veiled Maid Marian hat, never once questioning my love for a certain cartoon fox (if you know, you know). So when I had children of my own, it was a given that they’d be schooled in Nottingham’s rich history and Robin Hood lore. My eldest was a toddler when he was handed his first little wooden sword, while my youngest was only a newborn when a green felt hat was first plonked onto his head (much to his annoyance), at an early Woodland Festival back in 2017.
Fast-forward to today and my kids have graduated from wooden swords to axes. The Woodland Festival has also outgrown its original home in Sherwood Forest – but its ethos remains the same. Nature, heritage, creativity and community are at the heart of the Sherwood Forest Trust Woodland Festival, which returns to Thoresby Park on Saturday 25 - Sunday 26 July.
What inspired you to create The Woodland Festival twelve years ago?
Whilst attending the Derbyshire County Council Woodland Festival at Elvaston Castle, myself (one of the NCC Sherwood Forest Ranger team) and my NCC colleague Gary (who was the country park events officer), thought: ‘Why doesn’t Nottinghamshire have one? We’ve got the most famous forest in the world – let’s celebrate it.”
What gap did you feel existed at that time that you wanted to fill?
At that time, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve had lots of historical events and of course the Robin Hood Festival, but we wanted to celebrate more of the traditional skills that have helped shape the woodland in the past to the modern day, whilst celebrating local artisans and makers who, in some cases, are keeping these crafts going.
Looking back, how has the festival changed, and what has remained the same?
The initial conversation was that the event could be the Sherwood Forest Woodland Festival and have the ability to move around the historic boundary area of Sherwood. But, at the time, the event was mostly funded by Notts County Council so it became the Major Oak Woodland Festival, until it reverted back to its original plan with Sherwood Forest Trust fully taking on the event in 2021 and moving it to Thoresby Park in 2023.
The festival has grown to include so many local makers, entertainers, and community groups who all have their own story to tell. For us, it’s a great opportunity for us to talk to local people about what we do at Sherwood Forest Trust. What we really try to do every year is to engage young people and get them interested in nature and conservation – nurturing this passion is so important.
Have audience expectations changed?
I don’t think so, the event has always had a family-friendly charm with lots of things to see and do. This is something that we focus on every year and try to develop, so that there’s always something new and interesting.
Folk traditions have deep roots in British culture, and are particularly important to Nottingham’s history. Why do you think they're still so relevant today?
As a nation, although we’ve lost a bit of our nature connectedness in the last couple of decades, it’s still there, biding its time, waiting for us to reconnect. Some people reconnect through bird watching, some through going for a walk. For others, it’s through using their hands. Events like the woodland festival have such a variety of things on offer to see and do, we hope that it helps to give people that spark to find their connection to our heritage.
How important is it that local traditions and ancient arts continue to be celebrated by younger generations?
This is why events like our Woodland Festival are important, as people get to see and experience historical skills in a modern setting. Many of these traditions have seen a resurgence as well in the last few years through more makers using their social media streams to highlight them.
We live in a world where, within a few clicks, we can buy anything we need. Yet, here, you’ll get the chance to hear how things are made, where the materials come from, how it’s used. All these little details add up to giving items a story. That story helps to engage the younger generations and hopefully inspire them to have a go, and maybe even take up a craft.
I’ve attended many Woodland Festivals since the inception, and have watched my children grow from babies to pre-teens, immersed in different ways in the festival. Why is family and community such an important part of your vision?
I’ve been involved in Woodland Festivals for over twenty years as either a visitor, staff member to setting up what is now the Sherwood Forest Woodland Festival. Over that time I’ve gotten married and had my own children so visiting events has changed how I experience them, but it’s not stopped me from enjoying them. This element fed into the ongoing vision for the event and it’s been a crucial element from the start – which is why Sherwood Forest Trust have also been involved from the start, as it’s always had the greater vision of community as a core element of what it does.
Have you seen children who came to the first festivals now returning as teenagers or young adults?
I have and it’s part of the joy that we’re seeing teenagers coming back as adults and toddlers coming back as teenagers. And it’s not just the visitors. It’s also the stall holders, makers and entertainers as well, many of whom keep coming back year on year and we’ve got to see their families grow as well.
The setting has changed in recent years – how has that changed the festival itself?
Whilst Sherwood Forest NNR was an amazing setting for the event, we were restricted with the amount of space the event could use. The move to Thoresby estate has given the event a different feel but it’s a fantastic space, and we were really happy that they wanted to work with us to not only host the event but also give it space to grow.
Whilst we’ve got lots of our usual features such as the stories from the Wildman of the Woods, live chainsaw carving and loads of activities, this year new additions include a 'Wellbeing in the Woods' section, which will include yoga, forest bathing, and foraging walks
What can we expect this year?
Whilst we’ve got lots of our usual features such as the stories from the Wildman of the Woods, live chainsaw carving and loads of activities, this year Jess, the organiser, has been really busy pulling together a brilliant jam packed event. New additions include a 'Wellbeing in the Woods' section, which will include yoga, forest bathing, and foraging walks. We have the Blue Badge Bunch who are bringing their hilarious interactive show, Slugageddon!, and Wise Owl Theatre who will be showing their own interactive puppet performances of Alice in Wonderland. This is going to be our biggest year yet, people might actually have to come for both days to fit everything in!
Independent festivals and events have faced enormous pressures in recent years. How difficult has it been to keep Woodland Festival thriving?
It has been tough but, whilst some of our fellow woodland festivals in the region have gone into hiatus, we’ve been incredibly lucky in that we’ve managed to continue to get local businesses (Bowring Transport, B&B Tractors, and The Barcode Warehouse) to support the event through sponsorship.
Sponsorship covers a great deal of the festival's costs, but it doesn't fund the event in full, so we're always looking at new ways to raise funds. Over the years we've had to increase trader pitch fees, something we've tried to keep to a minimum, we gratefully accept donations, and this year we're also running a raffle with some fantastic prizes. We're always keen to hear from businesses interested in sponsoring the festival and helping us keep this much loved community event going.
What motivates you to keep going?
The love of the event. After a couple of years attending as a stall holder and not as the organiser it was great to get back behind the scenes again and support Jess in putting the event on.
Is there one memory from the last twelve years that sums up what Woodland Festival is all about?
I think the joy it can bring. I was recently at Thoresby’s This is Farming event and we were telling people about the woodland festival being on in the next week or so, and we got a lot of feedback from people saying they’d been last year and had loved it and were really looking forward to it again this year. For me, as the person who said “let’s do one in Nottinghamshire,” it makes me feel really proud that people are still enjoying it.
What has founding the festival taught you about Nottingham and the people who live here?
That we have some incredibly talented makers and creators in Nottinghamshire. It ties in to the heritage of Nottingham, which has an amazing history of industry, and this in turn ties back to Sherwood Forest.
You can enjoy a weekend of learning, playing, or simply soaking up the beauty of Thoresby Park, at the Sherwood Forest Trust Woodland Festival 2026 this weekend 25th – 26th July.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
