Around 3,000 people are expected to celebrate rural traditions including ferret racing and axe throwing while helping to raise money for a new rewilding project at an annual fair.
The family-friendly festival of nature and the great outdoors Wychwood Forest Fair is returning to Foxburrow Wood on the outskirts of Witney on Sunday.
Organised by habitat restoration charity the Wychwood Forest Trust, it celebrates Oxfordshire’s natural heritage, and encourages a positive approach to tackling the biodiversity and climate crises.
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As well as providing plenty of entertainment, music and good food, it showcases traditional rural activities such as dry stone walling, hedge laying, willow weaving and wood carving.
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Neil Clennell, chief executive at the trust, said: “We are really proud to be holding the Wychwood Forest Fair at Foxburrow Wood again.
"It was the first land we ever bought, rather fittingly with the funds we had raised from Forest Fairs past.
"In just a decade, it has been transformed beyond recognition, from inhospitable degraded land to one of our most popular restoration sites where nature positively thrives."
This year, all proceeds from the fair will go towards rewilding Gibbets Close Hill, 50 acres of former livestock farmland in open countryside between Eynsham and Witney acquired by the Trust through a legacy in 2022.
The land still has vibrant hedgerows with numerous mature trees, and is very close to some surviving remains of the ancient Wychwood Forest to the east at Eynsham Hall.
The trust, known for its progressive and scientific approach to environmental conservation, plans to allow nature to transform the land and begin a journey back towards a naturally developing forest once again.
Mr Clennell added: “As always, the Forest Fair will be a celebration of community, countryside and conservation in West Oxfordshire and beyond.
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“Our own expert volunteer groups will be on hand to demonstrate their traditional skills and knowledge of the specialist Wychwood fauna and flora, and there will also be many other conservation and social interest groups to talk to and learn from.
"Where else can you learn about local natural history, join a community group and lend your support to campaigns to clean up our rivers, then take a pony ride, throw a few axes and lose your shirt on a ferret race?
"All in an incredible green space with excellent beer and great food.”
- The Wychwood Forest Fair will take place on Sunday at Foxburrow Wood, Witney OX29 9XL from 11am to 4pm. Tickets are available from the WFT website www.wychwoodforesttrust.co.uk/whats-on and cost £10 while under14s are free.
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