Next week the Year of Our Island project will begin its two-week celebration of the Island’s flora and fauna. The ’Full Bloom Fortnight’ will begin with the official opening of the Year of Our Island Garden on the 25th June.

The garden has been designed and developed over the past 9 months and is a collaboration between the Year of Our Island project team and primary schools across the Island.

Children from 18 schools have been tasked with designing a garden that will be a celebration of our UNESCO biosphere status and will portray what makes the Isle of Man a special place for them to live.

Year of Our Island Project Manager Anna Goldsmith said that it has been fantastic to see the children’s enthusiasm.

’The kids, with a little help from the teachers, are doing an amazing job putting together their plots and it’s been great to see how the garden has ’come alive’ since they have been at the site.

’Everyone is really looking forward to the opening next week and seeing their hard work pay off.

’We hope that Blein Yn Ellan Ain Garden (Year of Our Island Garden) will be a great addition to St John’s for the rest of the Year.’

The fortnight will also see a number of Year of Our Island partner events, including the Isle of Man Flower Festival.

From 1st July attendees can visit any of the 17 venues across the Island for free and see a variety of exhibits based around this year’s theme, ’A Manx Year’.

In a first for the festival, the Year of Our Island project has worked to develop a series of ’Blooms and Brews’ routes. These are short suggested routes to take around the Flower Festival giving people the opportunity to take part in an afternoon of exploration, flowers and cake.

The route posters are available on the Year of Our Island website as well as the Year of Our Island website.

Year of Our Island has also partnered with Wildflowers Isle of Man to host a series of ’Wildflower Walks’ at locations around the Island.

From the secret valley of Ravensdale to the brisk coastline of Scarlett, Simon Smart will help attendees discover something new about the fauna they walk past every day.

The walks will run on succesive Sundays, June 24, July 1 and July 8, and tickets are available through the Year of Our Island website.

If you would like more information or to attend any events during Full Bloom Fortnight or would just like more information on the Year of Our Island project you can email [email protected], go online to ourisland.im or call 687007.

by the Year of Our Islandproject team

www.ourisland.im