Cambridge Nature Festival 2026
A five-week invitation to rediscover the living landscape around us
From Saturday 23 May to Tuesday 30 June, the Cambridge Nature Network brings back the Cambridge Nature Festival for its fifth year, continuing to grow as a defining moment in the city’s environmental calendar.
What began as a local initiative has become something more expansive, a shared exploration of the nature woven through Cambridge and its surrounding villages. From the chalk streams of Abbey to the rare orchids at Haslingfield Quarry, the festival invites people to step outside and see what is already here.
A programme that meets you where you are
With more than 180 events planned, the 2026 festival builds on last year’s record-breaking programme. The range is deliberately wide, designed to welcome both deep specialists and those simply curious about the natural world.
For families
Parks and green spaces become informal classrooms, with forest school sessions, pond dipping, and hands-on outdoor learning designed to engage younger audiences.
For the curious
Citizen science events, including BioBlitzes at Coton Orchard and Logan’s Meadow, bring together experts and the public to record as many species as possible in a single session. These moments turn observation into contribution.
For those seeking something quieter
A growing cultural strand reflects the connection between nature and wellbeing, with guided walks, reading sessions, photography, and access to often unseen community gardens.
Why it matters
The festival is the public expression of a longer-term ambition: a coordinated effort to restore and connect nature across the Cambridge area.
Behind each event sits a simple but urgent idea. The landscapes that shape this region, its fens, meadows, waterways, woodlands, and chalk downland, form a delicate and interdependent system. Their future depends on collective attention.
Participation is not just attendance. It is a small but meaningful act of alignment with the vision to double nature across Cambridge and its surrounding areas.
How to take part
Most events are free or low-cost, though many require booking and tend to fill quickly.
You might find yourself following the scent of wildflowers through a meadow, or drifting along the river at dusk, listening for bats. The invitation is simple: to experience Cambridge not only as a place of history and architecture, but as a living landscape.
Further details and booking information can be found via the festival website:
https://cambridgenaturenetwork.org/naturefestival/
