Event to expand from clifftops into Flamborough village this year
It’s all about the puffin at the popular Yorkshire Puffin Festival(Image: O’Hara Photography)
Everything puffin is coming to the East Yorkshire coast this month for the annual celebration of this charming little seabird. Yorkshire Puffin Festival, organised by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, returns to the spectacular Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve on June 6 and 7.
This year, the festival is expanding from North Landing into the village hall at Flamborough, and visitors can enjoy more craft workshops, activities, guided walks and talks. The chalk cliffs that stretch from Filey to Bridlington host one of the largest and most accessible mainland puffin colonies in the UK. The festival celebrates the return of this much-loved but threatened seabird to this internationally important breeding ground.
This is the eighth year that the Trust has run the Yorkshire Puffin Festival, with an expanded events programme that offers more to enjoy than ever before. The festival weekend will include:
- Clifftop guided walks to see the puffin colony and other seabirds, accompanied by an expert member of staff
- Guided walks at dawn and dusk, the perfect time to listen to the cacophonous dawn chorus and hopefully spot the reserve’s resident barn owls
- Boat trips by traditional fishing coble to discover the rugged coastline and watch the seabirds from a different angle
- Yarn on, a talk by Propagansey, about the history and craftmanship that went into creating traditional fisherman’s ganseys
- Pub painting sessions at Flamborough village hall with Pub Painting UK
- Photography sessions with Sean Jones Photography – if you have ever wanted to get good photos of cliff-dwelling puffins and other seabirds, now is your chance
- A puffin-themed collage poetry workshop with poet Becca Drake, and a chance to submit to the Trust’s 80th anniversary poetry competition
- A Puffin Creation Station with Thread and Press, making wildlife collage finger puppets and recording your own video
- Storytelling with Mud Pie Arts about Perry the puffin and his friends
- Meeting Cliff, the giant cuddly puffin mascot
David Craven, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s head of operations for East Yorkshire, said: “I look forward to the return of our puffins every year; they’re so characterful and brightly-coloured that they really look like they ought to live somewhere much warmer and more tropical. They’re endlessly fascinating to watch as they whizz to and from the cliffs.
“We know that wildlife-watching experiences mean the world to people and we love any opportunity to make these as accessible as possible. We’re here to help our visitors spot the puffins and other birds on and around the cliffs, and we are usually lucky enough to spot whales or dolphins too.
“Sadly, these stunning birds are threatened and at risk and losing them from Yorkshire is unthinkable. As the North Sea warms, our puffins are having to travel further and further to find sand eels – their main food source, which is only found in cooler water.
“Although the colony at Flamborough is holding steady at the moment, it is only a matter of time if things don’t change before we start to see our puffins struggling. These wonderful birds need our help, through protection of their fishing grounds and food supply to their fragile marine habitat, so we invite everyone who cares to take action for marine wildlife.”
You can become a Puffin Protector at ywt.org.uk with a free pack full of puffin facts, activities to do at home, advice on where to see them, puffin-themed gifts and competitions, and actions to protect puffins. Find out more at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s puffin festival webpage packed with information about each event and activity, and details for booking, which is essential for some activities, including boat trips, which are also tide-dependent.
There is a charge for some activities while others are drop-in or book and join in on the day. Visit Puffin HQ on arrival at North Landing to find out more, where parking and refreshments are also available.
The festival is supported by players of the Postcode Lottery, and by Wykeland. To celebrate the return of Yorkshire Puffin Festival, Spirit of Yorkshire, creators of Yorkshire’s first single-malt whisky, are also offering one lucky winner an exclusive, behind-the-scenes distillery tour.