Visitors Have a Blast at The Big Spring Bash!

St Andrews Botanic Garden recently welcomed over 750 visitors during a brand-new event “The Big Spring Bash” - a celebration of spring, showcasing wonderful small businesses and projects from across Fife!

The Big Spring Bash took place on 25th and 26th March, when visitors enjoyed an action-packed weekend of interactive activities, live music, local food & drink plus an urban market – all while enjoying the beautiful setting of St Andrews Botanic Garden.

The event, supported by the Fife Strategic Events Fund, and aimed to create a sense of local pride, highlighting and celebrating the talent, produce, and nature on our doorstep to local communities and visitors to the area.

Our team at St Andrews Botanic Garden were delighted with the wonderful atmosphere during the event and lovely feedback from visitors that we received!

We partnered with a huge variety of local organisations to provide a fabulous day out with experiences designed for all. Activities included tales for all from local authors & storytellers, Sheila Kinninmonth and Emma-Louise Beeson, and rocket making and pond dipping with St Andrews Botanic Garden’s Education team. Visitors got creative too, trying their hands at jelly printing, yarn spinning and nature crafts with local artists and makers, as well as browsing unique gifts and artworks from the Urban Market which showcased the very best local artists and makers.

The event brought together food vendors and musicians from across the Kingdom, encouraging visitors enjoy local food & drink while relaxing with live music from local musicians in the stunning setting of the Wildflower Garden. The weekend included performances of live music from local musicians including Callum Gibson, RAAB and Gavin McGinty and Family Ceilidh sessions from Ceilidh Kids.

Partner and neighbour St Andrews Brewing Company provided a bar featuring their award-winning drinks produced in Fife. In the run up to the event, they shared:

“St. Andrews BrewCo are over the moon to be partnering with our neighbours, St. Andrews Botanic Gardens for The Big Spring Bash! Our brewery is so close, we plan to wheel some kegs around for our bar. We will be pouring a selection of our award-winning beers, spirits and plenty of soft drinks for all the family. With live music, tasty food, and plenty of family activities nearby, why not get in early, secure your spot and enjoy a great weekend. We can’t wait to see you there, Cheers!” Stuart Regan – St Andrews BrewCo

Community spirit was at the core of this event, and through St Andrews Botanic Garden’s widening access scheme, free tickets were allocated for specific community groups to ensure finance was not a barrier for taking part, with 74 people benefitting from these tickets.

The event was also supported by Friends and volunteers, with our volunteer Ann shared that she: “really enjoyed meeting and greeting the public ... It was lovely to tell them all about the activities and promote the gardens. I will be very happy to volunteer in that role again. The other volunteers were all so enthusiastic too and the staff were very encouraging and appreciative of our time. All in all it was a wonderful experience!”

Thank you for Welcome to Fife for allowing us to share these wonderful photos from the event!