BBC wildlife man King to open second wildlife festival
The line up for the Shetland Nature Festival 2009 has been announced.
From the 3rd to the 12th of July, there will be all sorts of events across the isles celebrating the natural world, including a North Isles ferry cruise, geology and flowers events, family activities, whale and dolphin watching, poetry, talks and guided walks.
Shetland enthusiast Simon King will open the event with help from MSP Tavish Scott and dialect group Shetland ForWirds.
Simon King will be giving an insight on his work for the forthcoming BBC series Shetland Diaries with Simon King. Fellow broadcaster Mike Dilger (regular reporter from the BBC’s The One Show) will also be contributing to the festival on the 11th of July. Mike will be giving a talk in Lerwick and appearing at the RSPB Sumburgh Head open day.
The Shetland Nature Festival is organised by the Shetland Amenity Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB Scotland. RSPB south Shetland warden Helen Moncrieff said: “Last year was such a success with over 1,000 folk getting involved, and I’m delighted that the Shetland Amenity Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage are jointly organising this year’s festival.
“The nature festival coincides with the first week of the school holidays. So we’ve tried to have something on offer for all ages, abilities and interests. I hope that this year even more folk come out to celebrate Shetland’s natural world, and are inspired to do more throughout the summer.”
The festival will cover weather, oceanography, geology, plants, seabirds, art and much more.
Helen added: “Some of the events are free and folk can just come along. Others are ticketed or need to be booked so I’d advise people to book early to avoid disappointment.”
Details of events can be found at www.shetlandnaturefestival.co.uk. Tickets for the evening events are now on sale. Contact the RSPB Shetland Office (01950) 460800 or Shetland Amenity Trust (01595) 694688 to find out more.
