Lowestoft is going green as The Great Big Green Weekender comes to Sparrow’s Nest on Saturday 24^th September.

This free event, organised by Lowestoft Town Council, forms part of the national “Great Big Green Week” and aims to highlight local green initiatives.

Throughout the day there will be live performances given by local groups, including Lowestoft Signing Choir, Marina Ukulele Group, Marina Choir Rocks, Tom Tonks, Michelle Miles and Venue of Performing Arts.

A number of information and interactive stalls will fill the park as members of the public are encouraged to engage with the climate.  Interactive stalls will include a Met Office stall on clouds, a “build-your-own wind turbine” activity with East Coast College, and up-cycled jewellery making with Re-utilise.  Suffolk Wildlife Trust will also have an interactive stall whilst free water saving kits from Essex and Suffolk Water and food measuring kits from Food Savvy Suffolk will be available to pick up. Information stalls on Beekeeping from the Waveney Beekeepers, Kittiwakes from Groundswork East and Lowestoft’s Uncle Sid’s Zero Waste Store will also be on site.  Get Suffolk Reading will also be running a family trail around the park with prizes of free books whilst the Most Easterly Community Group will be holding their “Recycling Hub” stall where people can bring their recycling and learn more about reducing waste.

Local plant-based and sustainable food vendors, including “Fork Off It’s Vegan” and “Iced Vegan” will be selling a wide range of food produce throughout the day, alongside the parks existing restaurant and café.

The event will include a keynote speech delivered by environmental public speaker, journalist and author of “The Joyful Environmentalist”, Isabel Losada. Her book “The Joyful Environmentalist” won The Independent’s Sustainability Book of the Year 2022 and Isabel will be available after her talk to sign copies of her book.

Speaking about the event Cllr Paul Page, Chair of Lowestoft Town Council’s Climate Emergency and Ecological Committee said, “Climate Change is the biggest issue facing the world and Lowestoft Town Council are working towards being Net-Zero by 2030.  When the Town Council made our Climate Declaration in 2019, we committed to this goal and to raising awareness of climate change within Lowestoft. We’re already seeing the effects of climate change but I have hope that, with everyone working together and making the appropriate changes, we can begin to make a difference.

“It can seem like individual actions don't mean much. I really believe that altering aspects of our daily lives does make a difference and we can do more to live sustainably. Our individual choices begin to have a collective impact on our habits - such as how we travel, what we eat, how we use our energy, the types of products we buy, and even who we bank with, and much more. These are things we can all do and 'The Great Big Green Weekend' is a chance for us to find out about how local organisations are raising awareness and working hard to help tackle the climate emergency. I hope we can send a strong message to business, industry and government, at all levels, that we require robust environmental policies adopted on a local, national and international scale.  

“It may seem that anything each of us does is a mere drop in the ocean - but it is millions of individual drops which make up that ocean.

“The Great Big Weekender is a chance for us to find out about the exciting ways that local organisations are raising awareness and tackling the climate emergency.  There will be something for everyone with live performances alongside the interactive information stalls.”

The Great Big Green Weekender runs on Saturday 24^th September from 10am-4pm at Sparrows Nest and is a free event.

A full entertainment programme has been published on our website