THERE’S fun for all the family at this weekend’s Bloom! horticultural festival in York, which returns with a host of events, workshops and offerings.

This year it will be a ‘mini’ Bloom! Flower and Produce Festival, celebrating York’s rich tradition of horticulture, past and present, as well as the individuals and communities involved today. The inaugural Bloom! Festival, the brainchild of Make It York, attracted thousands of visitors last summer and saw the city come alive with floral creations.

Organisers hope the celebration, today and tomorrow in York Minster’s Dean’s Park, will encourage more people to get involved and ultimately encourage more planting across the city. A flower and produce show will test six judges, who will reveal the winning entries in 60 different categories. With a full list of competition categories for children and adults to enter, this will be the focal event for a village fete in the heart of York.

In the summer of 2018 the four-day festival celebrated 250 years of the Ancient Society of York Florists. More than 120 events ran over the four days of the festival which engaged with 100 plus businesses.

Ahead of next year’s larger event this year’s mini festival focuses on York’s growers and celebrates existing and budding gardeners.

Under the roof of the York Minster School marquee, the flower and produce show will run from noon to 4pm on Saturday while Sunday will offer visitors the chance to buy from local producers at a plant and flower market.

Alongside the flower and produce show, free events for children and families include a bee story workshop, investigating the importance of bees, vegetable self-portrait making and floral crown creating. These will be held underneath the trees of Dean’s Park Gardens where bunting and floral decorations will continue the ‘village fete’ theme throughout.