Get ready for a FREE weekend of adventure, creativity, and fun at the Woodland Festival 2026, returning to the stunning Thoresby Park on 25th and 26th July. With free entry (car park fees apply), this is the perfect family-friendly festival to reconnect with nature, try new skills, and enjoy time outdoors. We’ll be celebrating traditional woodland heritage crafts and helping keep these valuable skills alive for future generations, with plenty to see and do for all ages.
Benny Shakes from the Blue Badge Bunch is bringing his brilliantly bonkers family show Slugageddon! to the Woodland Festival. Led by comedian and real-life gardener Benny, who lives with cerebral palsy, this interactive, eco-themed adventure is packed with slugs, games, mayhem and surprisingly useful gardening tips. Bursting with humour and hands-on fun, Slugageddon! explores biodiversity while celebrating nature, difference and inclusion – perfect for curious kids and their grown-ups.
If you prefer to slow down and get creative, take a walk with artist Martin Clarkson and have a go at sketching some of the majestic trees of Thoresby Park.
Storytime takes a wild twist with our Wild Man of the Woods, our festival poster boy, who will share tales of the forest for young and old alike. Plus, families can join in the treasure hunt or toast marshmallows on the fire with Hairy Tom’s Forest School.
Crafts and skills workshops offer something for everyone. Watch Peartree Garden Services carve wooden creations with their chainsaws, have a go at blacksmithing, willow weaving, and pole lathe turning with local bodgers, or test your aim with archery alongside the Sherwood Outlaws. Most activities are free or pay-what-you-want, and some charge a small fee.
This year also introduces a special Wellbeing in the Woods area, offering visitors the chance to slow down and reconnect with nature. Join guided forest bathing sessions with The Nature Coach, discover the healing traditions of forest medicine with Muji, and join Hannah from Kindful and Wild on her foraging walks, where you can spot edible plants and even sample syrups she’s made from foraged finds.
Food and drink will be available over the weekend, with Tucks Brewery on site offering refreshing local and exceptional beers.
The Woodland Festival is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, including main sponsors Bowring Transport and B&B Tractors, alongside valued partners The Barcode Warehouse and other local businesses who share our commitment to community and conservation.
Come for a weekend of learning, playing, or simply soak up the beauty of Thoresby Park, the Sherwood Forest Trust Woodland Festival 2026 has something for everyone!
