On Saturday, July 2, be sure to come to the Bright Futures Festival in Bude.

This fun family event will be held in The Castle, its grounds, the Library and The Parkhouse Centre and promises to be an inspiring and entertaining day. From 11am-5pm there’s going to be live music from local bands, dance performances, inspirational keynote speakers, food stalls and a huge variety of different activities for all the family.

URBN StreetZ dance crew will kick off the event with an exhilarating performance, then check out The Castle for kids’ magic shows by magician Adrian Ward, storytelling plus a talk by local artist Sue Read about her inspiration for her environmental art. You’ll also find eco-storytelling for little ones at The Library.

The Castle grounds will be where you’ll find the huge variety of food and local produce stalls including local gin-maker Tom Read’s bar and Paul from The Preston Gate’s pop-up stall. The Bandstand is the location for the day’s live music, organised by James Dixon, who’ll also be performing. The stunning line-up includes Ezmay Grace, Fford5 with ex-Stranglers singer Paul Roberts and sea shanties from The Cobweb Crew. Don’t forget the Barrel Border Morris Group who will be keeping us entertained between performers.

An unmissable element of the day is the upcycled fashion show. Check out Blend Youth Collective modelling homemade and customised clothing, accompanied by charismatic compere Paul Roberts. The sustainable art trail will be winding around the Castle grounds with artwork provided by local schoolchildren and there’s face-painting and willow-weaving with Angelique Medland too.

Just over the road at The Parkhouse Centre, the fun continues with an inspiring set of keynote speakers. A Zoom presentation by TV’s sustainable lifestyle expert Mukti Mitchell is a must-see, then there’s talks by Chris Hines MBE, co-founder of Surfers Against Sewage and Sustainability Director of the Eden Project for five years. Transition Network founder Rob Hopkins has a presentation for you entitled “From What Is to What If: why the next 10 years need to feel like a revolution of the imagination” and local off-grid expert Nick Rosen will be giving us tips on how to find land to make our off-grid dreams come alive. You can also discover what ‘environmentrualism’ is with Yvette Curtis of Wave Wahines CIC female surf therapy club.

As well as inspiring speakers, there’s some amazing local films to watch, too, including Charlie Key’s documentaries about our countryside and tourism industry and a series of short films about our community. Look out for Vicko, Lochy, Alex Blueitt and more. The Parkhouse Carpark is the place to have a nosy around an electric car and try out an electric bike.

Bude Climate Partnership has organised this free festival to celebrate all that’s wonderful about Bude and to say a big thank you to our community. There’s also the chance to see what projects it has been working on that will help future-proof our town, coast and countryside and discover how our partners have been involved.

Rob Uhlig, Bude Climate Partnership Project Coordinator, said: ‘Bright Futures promises to be a fantastic day for all the family, a celebration of what we all love and cherish about living in Bude and a chance for us to come together to ensure that our future is bright, secure and sustainable in the face of the challenges of climate change.’

Bright Futures Festival is on Saturday, July 2, 11am to 5pm.

For information about running a stall, contact [email protected]. For more information about the festival, check out www.budeclimate.org/bude-festival – a timetable of events will be available soon.