Blackburn Cathedral Flower Festival which runs from 23rd – 26th June 2016 is set to be the first major Cathedral Event that has put recycling at the top of its preparations.
Cathedrals from around the UK have a grand tradition of hosting spectacular Flower Festivals and this is the first time Blackburn will host an event on this scale.
As part of the preparation & research into the Festival, organisers Karen Brooke and Lowri Cope, visited other major events last year at Winchester, Salisbury, Southwark and Durham. The flower displays utilise large mechanics to create the incredible effects that are part of these festivals and usually these are scrapped at the end of each event.
Karen and Lowri saw a massive opportunity at one of these events and asked if they could take the mechanics to be remodelled and re-used at the Blackburn Festival.
Karen said, “We were thrilled when we were offered these mechanics for free but we then had 24 hours to remove them from site and find somewhere to store them. We took the decision to buy a 40 foot container and organised for them to be collected the next day, with lots of help from volunteers and with the support of Radcliffe company Cope Engineering.
“Since then we have collected more of these mechanics from events across the UK and workers have spent months redesigning them, so they can be used within the Blackburn Festival. We have even had some success in renting them out to other festivals.”
The Blackburn Cathedral Flower Festival was also concerned that as part of creating the event a large amount of green plant waste will be created and in partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Council the Blackburn event will be collecting all its green waste, so that it can be composted commercially and used in agriculture and horticulture.
The festival has attracted support from a wide range of businesses and organisations including headline sponsors Barton Grange Garden Centre, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Blackburn Market, BMI Healthcare, John Turner Construction, The Eric Wright Group, Westholme School, Booths, High Level Maintenance, Cope Engineering and media partners, BBC Radio Lancashire and Square Cactus.