Hertford Town Council held Eco Fest, a free event at Hertford Castle on Sunday 11^th May 2025, as part of a wider programme of Hertford town-wide sustainability events. Hertford Eco Fest raised awareness of the small changes we can all make to reduce our carbon footprint, while protecting and enhancing our natural environment. The Council is proud to unite Hertford in this vital and positive communal purpose.

Hertford Eco Fest was lots of fun for the whole family and we have enjoyed much positive feedback on the performers and stall holders, which included Mudlarks, Lovely Grub Garden, River Beane Restoration Association, the Woodland Trust, Hertford Men’s Sheds, Hertford Swift Group, Hertford and Ware Beekeeping Association, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and BEAM.

There was a record number of activities on the main lawn at Hertford Castle, including live entertainment from local musicians and a programme of talks and workshops (on a number of topics ranging from sustainable baking to the importance of bees). 

Sessions also took place within the Castle including ‘Hertford Eco Quilt’, a ‘Climate Café’ and ‘With integrity’ - all about contributing positively to the environment in a number of different ways.

Visitors enjoyed garden games, junk modelling, smoothie bikes, an e-bike display, a repair stall, food, drink and craft stalls, information around money saving ideas and carbon reduction suggestions as well as live pop-up theatre with 'William Wormsworth and Wormarie’ storytelling sessions. Children were really invested in these storytelling sessions and some were inspired to write poems and draw pictures; this colourful picture of the earth (below) was done by a very young person especially for William Wormsworth!

Some of the feedback received included:

• Boy, aged 5: “If we all just do one thing each day, like pick up litter, then imagine if everyone did it, the world would be better.” 
• Girl, aged 10: “I always look after worms. If I see one in the garden I say hello to it and get it lots of leaves to eat.” 
• Father of four: “You’ve been the highlight of our day, thank you.”

A wider programme of other sustainability  events across the local community, around Eco Fest, was collated on the Hertford Town Council website at: www.hertford.gov.uk/eco-fest-2025. There are still some events set to take place around Hertford; activities included walks, volunteer days, trails, plant sales, food swaps and a bike ride – all organised by Hertford’s local community groups, community gardens, local churches, as well as Hertford Library and Hertfordshire Health Walks.

Also included in our Eco Fest community listings are showings of ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’ at BEAM; a film which takes viewers on a breath-taking journey, showing there is nowhere more vital nor full of life, than the ocean. The screening on 11^th May, the day of the Eco Fest event, was followed by an informative talk from Prof. Viv Jones, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change at UCL, who examined the success of recent monitoring and restoration efforts on the River Beane, a local and globally rare chalk stream. The film is also available to see on 21^st May – book your tickets here: www.hertford.gov.uk/eco-fest-2025

Hertford Town Council supports active travel. Recently the Council launched a digital safer cycling map – available at www.hertford.gov.uk/safer-cycling. This outlines the safest suggested routes to ride a bicycle across Hertford, highlighting low traffic routes, car free areas and places to take extra care. The Council hopes this will help residents and visitors plan their travel for a safer, more enjoyable, journey. This is a result of the Council's regular discussions with local cycling groups, including Hertford and Ware Cycling Consortium, Hertford Cycle Hub and North Road Cycle Club. We hope that the map will soon be extended to include Ware. At Eco Fest, as well as trialling e-bikes, 67 bicycles were security marked for free. East Herts Police PCSOs worked in conjunction with Highway Cycles, to mark all kinds of cycles with anti-theft stickers. If you weren’t able to attend you can still register your bike at www.bikeregister.com - a national database which helps to reunite owners with their bicycle if it is ever lost or stolen.

Councillor Ann Woodward, Chair of the Development and Leisure Committee commented: “We were delighted to host this first Eco Fest for Hertford, bringing the community together –to unite in improving our environment, on both a local and a global scale. We always love welcoming our community to our free events at Hertford Castle and this one was particularly innovative and entertaining, with something for all ages to enjoy. 

The Council was honoured to highlight cycling, sustainability and reuse and repair initiatives; as well as to share the listings of other local environmental community events, across the town, around Eco Fest. The Council is proud that so many people in Hertford are so genuinely connected to our environment and are so active in its protection, for the good of generations to come.”

Hertford Town Council kindly thanks NCS for their support as the Eco Fest event sponsor. NCS is an established leader in a fast-moving and competitive industry, providing expert plumbing and heating solutions to customers all across the South East. Based in Hertford, NCS expanded into Renewable Energy and other energy efficiency products, enabling them to offer customers a wide range of additional services.

Notes:

All future community event listings at: www.hertford.gov.uk/events-listings

Safer Cycling information can be found at: www.hertford.gov.uk/safer-cycling

For more information on Environmental Sustainability please see: www.hertford.gov.uk/environmental-sustainability