Great Big Green Week 2026
13th - 21st June 2026
Did you know that it’s Great Big Green Week coming up?!
The Great Big Green Week (GBGW) is the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. This June, people across the country come together to take positive action with their communities; hosting events and activities to inspire others to step up for climate, nature and people, and call on decision makers to create a safer, greener future. Communities will be organising bake sales to bush craft, festivals to football matches, and everything in between!
The national GBGW runs 6 - 14 June in 2026. Bovey Tracey will be running their GBGW activities one week later this year.
There will be all sorts of activities and events taking place all week throughout our hometown of Bovey Tracey. Find out how we’ll be celebrating at MAKE Southwest as part of our Green Maker Initiative…
During the week at MAKE Southwest
Thursday 4th June, 10.30am - 12pm | Community Craft: decorations for Great Big Green Week
Workshop Space (ground floor) | FREE | Drop-in
Join Susie Honnor and MAKE Southwest for a creative community craft session!
The aim of the workshop is to create 4 decorative artworks that will be on display in Bovey Tracey for the duration of Bovey Tracey’s Great Big Green Week, 13 - 21 June.
We’ll work together to create colourful decorations for the community event using donated bicycle wheels and reused fabrics - inspired by this year’s cycling theme.
Tuesday 16th June, 10.30am - 1.30pm | Weave a Willow Garlic Basket
Workshop Space (ground floor) | £35 | Ticketed
Join MAKE Southwest Maker Member, Vivienne Turner, in this half-day workshop to weave a garlic basket from locally grown willow.
Small willow baskets woven in a traditional style using locally grown willow. Use a variety of colours to create a small hanging basket with corded handle, suitable for storing garlic or fruit.
Wednesday 17th June, 10.30am - 12pm & 3.30pm - 5pm | Make a Seed Bomb
Workshop Space (ground floor) | FREE | Drop-in
Join the MAKE Southwest team and volunteers for a free drop-in workshop to make wildflower seed bombs that support local wildlife and strengthen your connections with nature and each other.
Whether you have a window box, garden bed, patch of grass or shared community space, introducing wildflowers can create valuable habitats for pollinators and other insects.
The making process is hands-on, tactile, messy and enjoyable - a simple activity that gives you a chance to spend time with your community, learn something new and leave with a small act of nature-positive change to take home.
Friday 19th June, 10.30am - 3.30pm | Make a Flax Corn Dolly
Workshop Space (ground floor) | £75 | Drop-in
Discover the traditional craft of corn dolly making in this hands-on workshop led by skilled artisan, and Staying Alive exhibitor, Vicky Putler.
You’ll learn how to create:
A simple Gentleman’s Favour
A more intricate Welsh Fan design
Along the way, Vicky will also demonstrate how to extract flax fibre from straw to make simple linen cordage.
The Great Big Green Fun Day
Saturday 20th June, 10am - 4pm | Mill Marsh Park
Forage & Dye: Botanical Wish Leaves | 10am - 4pm (drop-in) | FREE
Join artist Sam Doyle for a drop-in botanical workshop exploring plant-based colour and making in response to landscape and environment.
Participants are invited to create a small plant-dyed textile “wish leaf”, using natural pigments and simple mark-making techniques. Each piece becomes a personal reflection - a hope, intention, or offering for the future of the planet.
These individual works will be gathered into a collective hanging installation, forming a soft, evolving artwork shaped by the public across the day.
Rooted in sustainable processes and low-impact materials, this workshop offers a gentle introduction to natural dyeing while encouraging connection to place, material, and ecological awareness.
This workshop is free and doesn’t require any booking.
Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult.
Great Big Green Fun Day
Bovey Tracey’s Great Big Green Fun Day will be returning to Mill Marsh Park on Saturday 20th June 2026, bringing with it a vibrant celebration of community, sustainability, and creativity. As part of the wider Great Big Green Week , the Fun Day will provide a programme of activities designed to inspire climate action and bring residents together.
There will be food, refreshments, creative activities and green engagment. Visitors can enjoy a full schedule of live performances that showcase local talent and celebrate our community. Examples of the line up :
* Bovey Tracey School Choir opening the day with a joyful performance.
* Exeter Community Folk Orchestra will provide a lively performance of folk music.
* Open Drumming Workshop attendees will be invited to get involved in rhythmic, hands‑on music making.
* Free craft Workshop provided by Make Southwest
* East Shallowford Farm will be bringing some furry friends along.
* Animal Rapper, who was so popular last year, will make a return appearance.
Find out more on the dedicated Facebook page, HERE.
What else is on in Bovey Tracey during GBGW
Keep an eye out for other activities happening with other community groups and organisations during the Great Big Green Week…
Waggy Walk - Caring for the Wild with Devon Loves Dogs and a Nationa Trust Ranger at National Trust’s Parke [Thu 4 June, 6 - 8pm]
Sustainable gardening tips at National Trust Parke’s walled garden [Fri 5th - Sun 21st June]
The Promise Tree - make your pledge to nature at National Trust Parke’s Orchard [Fri 5th - Sun 21st June]
The Engine Inside - Film Night with Bovey Paradiso at The Phoenix Hall [Sat 13th June, 6.30pm]
Great Big Green Walk - guided walk through the National Trust Parke Estate [Sun 14 June, 10am - 12pm]
Enjoy a Summertime Cycle to explore this wonderful grassland’s flora and fauna - a Devon Wildlife Trust event at Teigngrace Meadow [Thu 18 June, 9,30am - 12pm]
Repair Café at the Methodist Church Hall [Sat 20 June, 9.30am - 12.30pm]
Great Big Green Fun Day at Mill Marsh Park [Sat 20 June, 10am - 4pm]
Foraging for Food - foraging talk and walk in the National Trust Parke Estate [Sat 20 June, 11am - 12pm & 2.20pm - 3.30pm]
Wildlife Wombles - a look at wildlife on our doorsteps, two 1-hour walks [Sun 21 June, 11am & 1pm]
Bovey’s own Great Big Green Week logo designed and generously supplied by Sarah McIntyre
Exhibitions on at MAKE Southwest
Staying Alive: Endangered crafts of the Southwest of England, co-curated by Heritage Crafts
Jubilee Gallery, ground floor
Fourteen master makers share their skills, tools, and stories, showing how traditions shaped by the region’s land and sea still have relevance and beauty today. From boatbuilding and ropemaking to hedging, basketmaking, and tanning, these crafts connect past and present, keeping centuries of knowledge alive in the modern world.
Remnants: Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Arts University Plymouth
Riverside Gallery, first floor
Work by 2nd Year BA (Hons) Textile Design at Arts University Plymouth.
This exhibition presents a body of textile works developed in response to artefacts from the collections of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter. Each piece explores the historical narratives, material qualities, and cultural significance embedded within these objects, transforming archival research into contemporary textile practice.
Tales from a Weavershed: mini photojournalism showcase
The Wheel Room, ground floor
A Green Maker Initiative showcase
Visit showcase
