A mindful stroll and 'bring and share' picnic

A mindful stroll with Phil through the old Garden Festival site now Festival Park followed by a ‘bring a share picnic’.

Phil will be our guide as we amble through the former National Garden Festival site from 1986 which is now a beautiful piece of nature, talking about the local history of the site and how it’s changed over the years and also adding a few thoughts on how nature can aid us in the busy hectic world.

So let’s take some time out from our hectic and busy lives and consciously focus on the world around us, beneath our feet and energy that’s all around us and maybe learn a few things about the area too.

“By having a picnic out doors it brings us closer to the planet, we can feel the warmth of the sun, the tingle of the air, the feel of the ground beneath us. Using mindfulness we can learn to appreciate life using all our senses and hopefully come away feeling refreshed by nature and more in-tune with nature and our self.”

The walk is just over 2 miles and should take us about an hour as we’ll be taking our time and Phil will be pointing out things of interest and showing us around this hidden beautiful place tucked behind the shops of Festival Park.

Terrain will be mostly well maintained paths but some grass and a few ups and downs are to be expected. We’ll wonder by lakes, wetlands, woodland trails and open grassy areas and even see the palm tress! It’s truly a hidden gem in the heart of the city.

People should park at the far end of the Odeon car park by the tenpin bowling ally, there is 4 hours free parking there.

We will start and finish by the car park with our picnic in a pleasant grassy area nearby.

Phil has a small garden table and 6 chairs but please feel free to bring a camp chair or get closer to nature and sit on blanket/rug.

As for picnic food to bring, it’s entirely up to you and we can maybe post on here what each person proposes to bring to avoid everyone bringing the same, and having 100 falafel balls and nothing else.

And if the weather is not good we can have an informal chat and discussion inside the Costa Coffee at the Odeon.