The Norwich Community Gardens Festival brought together volunteers, nature lovers, and local residents for a weekend dedicated to celebrating the city’s green spaces. Taking place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 April 2025, the festival showcased over 25 community-maintained green spaces, from woods to verges, from Grade II listed parks to allotments.

Visitors could explore the festival map to find their nearest community garden and visit it, or go on a self-guided walk or cycle ride across the city to see more. In some of the gardens taking part, they were welcomed by volunteers from the community groups who showed them around and even hosted special activities.

Highlights included guided tours of Grapes Hill Community Garden and the UEA campus ecology, learning about growing food sustainably at Marlpit Community Garden with hands-on activities for children organised by Norwich Science Festival, and going on a bug hunt in Wensum Park.

For those looking to do some gardening that weekend, they could get involved with one of the newly established community green spaces: NR5 Community Hub who started working on a bright sensory garden on the raised bed outside the West Earlham Dental Health Practice, The Feed’s Community Garden at Jubilee Park who were preparing new beds for fruit and vegetables, or Mousehold Community Garden, a new community allotment off Gertrude Road.

The 2025 festival was organised with support from Norwich City Council and we are hoping it will become a yearly event.