Free family-friendly secret “Sky Garden” festival coming to Golden Square

A free Garden Festival aimed at bringing together the community and raising awareness of a ‘secret’ rooftop garden is coming to Warrington this month.

The event will take place at ‘Sky Garden’ in Golden Square on Thursday, 17 August, and will give green-fingered people of all ages the chance to watch performances, take part in various events and meet like-minded folk.

Culture Warrington and Golden Square teamed up to launch ‘Sky Garden’ last year on the top floor of the shopping centre’s car park. The site is a ‘living addition’ to Warrington Museum’s natural history offer, particularly for educational projects.

The aim is to make the town centre a more biodiverse place to work and live, show people what you can do with a small green space and create an environment where visitors can sit and relax on warm days.
But some have yet to discover the urban oasis leading to be it being dubbed one of Warrington’s best kept secrets. So the organisers hope many new families will be able to explore the rooftop garden for the first time during the festival.

Amanda Moore, Education and Learning Officer at the Museum, said: “We believe that together we can improve our local environment, build community, and benefit people’s health and wellbeing by making our town a greener and happier place to live and work. That’s the main aim of the Sky Garden really.
“This mini festival is a great way to bring community groups together and show off this space along with its amazing views of Warrington and beyond.”

The festival will feature three performances of Tuckshop Dance Theatre’s Sunflowers, a colourful show about self-care and personal growth, at 11am, 12pm and 2pm.
The Museum team will be making herbal bath bags and Play-Doh gardens while their friends at The Old School Project will be making bug hotels, bug hand puppets and ID cards for bug hunting.
Causeway Community Garden representatives will be giving out gardening info and potting seeds, and have a kids’ colouring zone, while Warrington Library will have a storytelling and craft activities area.

Kim Moate, from Golden Square, added: “Golden Square are delighted to be hosting the Garden Festival alongside Warrington Museum at the Sky Garden.
“Being involved in this project has been a pleasure and it’s been great to see so many people visiting the garden since its launch.
“The space has recently had a make-over as we have extended the area and added in some additional planting beds and it’s been fascinating to see so many pollinators making it their new home!
“We are very proud that we can offer a tranquil space for our customers to come and enjoy. The Garden Festival Event is a great way to promote the space while networking with other community gardeners across our town.
“The event promises to be fun and educational with lots of activities for people of all ages to take part in and we are really looking forward to it.”

The festival will also see the launch of ‘Warrington Community Gardens’ – a network for not-for-profit community gardens.
Amanda said: “Warrington Museum is delighted to facilitate this exciting new gardens network that aims to encourage and support the people behind local green spaces to come together and share skills and resources, gain training and grow an informal group for the benefit of local communities.
“We aim to bring together growing and gardening skills and knowledge, so that we can learn from and support each other. If you are part of a garden group based in Warrington, no matter how small, please get in touch with us about joining our free group.”
The rooftop Sky Garden is on the top floor of Golden Square’s car park but can be a little hard to find at first. The top floor can be accessed via the lift near Starbucks in the shopping centre. Go out of the doors on the roof and head out then turn right towards the grey building. The garden is behind this.
The Garden Festival is free and takes place at the Sky Garden at Golden Square on Thursday, 17 August, between 10.30am and 3pm. For more information about Warrington Community Gardens, contact Amanda at [email protected] or call 01925 361730.