Appleby’s Tree Art Festival is planting a life-long legacy to help support the town’s famous red squirrel community.
Appleby is home to one of the last native Red Squirrel colonies in England, and to ensure they have food supply for generations to come, the organisers of the festival are working with students from Appleby Grammar School to plant 60 hazel tree saplings – that produce the squirrels favourite hazelnuts.
Lead artist for the Tree Art Festival, Karen Babayan said: “Everyone in the town and visitors alike, love to see the red squirrels who are currently well fed – especially by one local woman who feeds them on her dog walk and who the squirrels wait for every morning.
“When she was ill earlier this year she was really worried about who would feed the reds when she wasn’t here.
“Planting the Hazel saplings is a way of reassuring her and everyone that our red squirrels will always have enough food and is a celebration of our unique residents of Holme Wood.”
The Hazel planting has been made possible through the joint funding from Appleby Mayor’s Jubilee fund for tree planting through Appleby Grammar School and Appleby Remote Cinema.
Appleby’s Tree Art Festival 2022 takes place from 4 April – 8 May and is a celebration of the area’s trees and their importance to the health and wellbeing of the local community.
The Festival will include a riverside art trail with 20 themed sculptures and installations in the trees along an accessible riverside walk, created by the Appleby and Eden schools’ community; as well as other activities in Holme Woods such as den building, talks on the health benefits of tress, as well as the tree planting.
Funded by Cumbria County Council, Eden District Council and Appleby Town Council the Festival also includes Art Scene workshops based at Appleby Library, the Appleby Artscene Facebook group and an online map showcasing the event globally.
