This year’s York Environment Festival (YEFest) has opened its call for events!
Building on the success of previous years, the annual city-wide festival is back, running from Saturday 3rd October to Sunday 1st November.
The festival is inviting proposals for a wide range of events celebrating and standing up for the environment. Ready to get involved?
YEFest is a chance to showcase the brilliant work being done by local environmental groups, campaigners, businesses, universities, schools, arts organisations – and more! All events in the festival will be open and free to attend, offering York residents a chance to get involved and find out more about how they can champion their local environment.
What is YEFest?
YEFest (formerly York Environment Week) was started in 2020 by York Environment Forum as an annual opportunity to raise awareness of how people in York are working hard to tackle climate change, increase biodiversity and make the city more sustainable. Since then it has grown year on year, expanding to become a multi-week festival of events reaching an audience of thousands of local people.
While the programme’s name has changed, its core mission remains the same: to showcase the remarkable work of environment groups active in York, help others to get involved, and facilitate a space for community joy, knowledge and change-making.
A theme for 2026: looking to the future
In 2026, the festival marks its seventh year. The number seven carries significance in a number of ways. Cells in the human body take on average seven years to regenerate, for example, whilst the Seventh Generation Principle encourages decision-makers to not only consider the present day, but to plan for a world that will be sustainable seven generations into the future.
With this in mind, the focus of this year’s festival will be on the future and the power of younger generations to make change. It will ask: how can we build better for future generations? For our own resilience? For communities? As seven years have come and gone, now is the moment to look back on how far we have come, but also acknowledge the risks of repeating ourselves and falling into inertia, or even hopelessness.
The festival is looking for events that offer a chance to connect with the future-focused theme – whether through education, activism, connection, creativity or hands-on practical activities. Past events have included everything from nature walks to film screenings to arts workshops. All events that engage in some way with the local environment and/or the climate and biodiversity crisis are welcome, provided they meet the festival’s event guidelines.
Be a part of something bigger
Event organisers in previous years have commented that being part of the programme offers greater visibility for events, enables them to reach new audiences, and gives them the sense of being part of something bigger. Why not join them?
The deadline for event proposals is Friday 31st July. If you have any questions about York Environment Festival or your proposed event, please contact: info@yorkenvironmentfestival.org.uk.