‘Orchard City’ to be celebrated

Published On Mon 17 Oct 2016 by Grant Hill

The University of Dundee Botanic Garden will this weekend bring dancers, musicians, storytellers and civic groups together to celebrate the city’s first Community Harvest.

The event, which takes place from 11am-3pm on Saturday, 22^nd October, will be hosted by Dundee Urban Orchard, an art and horticulture project aiming to raise awareness of food sustainability. Since 2013, it has worked with community groups and cultural organisations to plant 25 orchards across the city. Locations include schools, community centres, and museums while those leading the project have also organised art workshops exploring biodiversity and other social and environmental themes.

The Community Harvest event is the culmination of the work undertaken over the past three years and is the first of what the group hopes will become an annual event. Harvests will take place at the new orchards throughout October and the Botanic Garden event will bring together participants and members of the public for a series of performances, talks and other activities.

Event organiser Jonathan Baxter said, “Our primary focus is to raise awareness of food sustainability and to help communities engage in positive action to that end. The Community Harvest and celebration at the Botanic Garden is a fantastic way to bring everyone together to mark the success of the past few years.

“Many of the orchard groups will be contributing, as will dancers, musicians, storytellers and Dundee’s Qi Gong practitioners. Members of the public are welcome to find out more about our work or just join in the fun.

“The Community Harvest and workshops celebrate Dundee as an Orchard City. In addition to the planting of orchards, what’s really being celebrated are the people and projects that support social and environmental wellbeing in the city.”

Botanic Garden Curator Alasdair Hood added, “We are excited to be hosting this event and to able to invite people along to celebrate this wonderful project. The Botanic Garden is a proud partner of the Dundee Urban Orchard project and we look forward to continuing success in future years.”

More information about Dundee Urban Orchard can be found at https://dundeeurbanorchard.net/. 

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk