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Tree Festival 2026

Celebrating the joy and value of trees

May 29 – 31 and June 06 – 07

Celebrate the extraordinary beauty and value of our trees in Sussex with the Tree Festival 2026!

Running over two weekends in May and June, the Tree Festival 2026 offers a host of events for everyone to enjoy – from talks and walks to poetry and music.

There are also opportunities to get involved before the festival with the exciting Tribute to the Trees event and the return of our popular ‘I love this tree because…’ photography competition. (2025 Winner Paul O’Prey: Dew Pond and Hawthorn).

The Tree Festival is brought to you by CPRE Sussex, volunteers and local groups.

Tree Festival 2026 Listings

Saturday 23 May

Sat 23 May, 2.30pm: Daylands Farm Walk

Horsham: Join our hedgerow hero, farmer Derek Crush for a gentle walk around the farm.

Sunday 24 May

Sun May 24, 2pm: Tribute to Trees

Preston Park, Brighton. Come and celebrate the life of our city’s trees! A joyous family friendly event including a celebration for our lost trees with Reverend Peter Owen Jones.

Tue 26 May

Tue May 26, 10am: Art in the Park!

Hasting. Join artist Marta Munoz and ecologist Ralph Hobbs at a special Yoyo Club event. Learn about insect life in and around our ancient trees andcreate your own insects with Marta and the Yoyo Club

Tue May 26th, 10am, 12pm & 2pm: Kids! Meet Hastings Ancient Trees Fossils

Join us for a journey millions of years into the past right here at Hastings Museum.Watch as our expert geologist and fossil hunter pulls some incredible prehistoric tree fossils out of the collection

Friday 29 May

Fri May 29, 11am: The Telling Tree – Tales from the Wild Wood

Bedelands Nature, Reserve Burgess Hill. Join us for a woodland adventure with storyteller Ariane Hadjilias.

Fri May 29, 10.30am: Discover Alexandra Park’s Fabulous Trees

Hastings. Join tree expert Professor Owen Johnson for a walk in this extraordinary Victorian park,

Fri May 29, 2pm: Forest School session

Come and enjoy a Forest School taster session on the Steyning Downland Scheme!

Fri May 29, 2pm: Magical Trees! Creative Workshop

Buckingham Park, Shoreham Unravel the mysteries and excitement of creative writing and image making on location with artist Jane Fordham and poet Jackie Wills.

Saturday 30 May

Sat May 30, 10.30am: Discover trees from around the world

One Garden, Stanmer Park, Brighton. Come explore a world of trees with Alex and Jen! Alex is the grounds manager at One Garden and Jen is our resident tree-lover and Forest School leader.

Sat May 30, 10:30 am: Discover Alexandra Park’s Fabulous Trees

Hastings. Join tree expert Professor Owen Johnson for a walk in this extraordinary Victorian park.

Sat May 30, 11am: A Hidden Gem – Highdown Chalk Garden

Worthing. Explore this stunning, unique informal garden with head gardener Alex New.

Sat May 30, 1.30pm: Family-friendly Stanmer Trees walk

Brighton. Come on a hunt with Iain and Jen to meet some of our favourite Stanmer trees! Join our guided walk led by tree expert Iain Palmer and Forest School Leader Jen Eneke.

Sunday 31 May

Sun 31 May, 10:30 am, 12:30pm & 3:30 pm: Arundel’s Amazing Trees

Join Arundel’s tree enthusiasts for a guided walk around the important trees in this beautiful ancient market town.

Sat May 31, 2:00pm: Meander through the trees

Washington, West Sussex. Emma and Lee will guide you through the trees and scenic landscape, chatting about the ecology and history.

Saturday 6 June

Sat June 6, 10.30am Exploring Church Wood

Hastings. Come along for a family friendly walk with Mary Dawson and explore Church Wood Local Nature Reserve’s ancient woodland and meadows.

Sat June 6, 10.30am: Stanmer’s Wonderful Woods

Brighton. Enjoy a guided walk through the woods and find out more about the ecology and history of Stanmer’s trees with tree expert Iain Palmer.

Sat June 6, 11am: Hassocks Ancient Woodlands

A guided circular walk of 2.5 miles through ancient woodland with Bob Epsom, Outreach Advisor for the Woodland Trust.

Sat 6 June, 2pm: Withdean Park – walk

Brighton. Withdean Park, best known for its beautiful lilac collection, is also home to a little- known collection of special trees to visit with your guide, Ian Lamb.

Sat 6 June, 2.30pm: Guided Elm Walk

Eastbourne. Join us for a guided 90 minute stroll starting from Towner Eastbourne in Devonshire Park. Led by a local expert,

Sunday 7 June

Sat June 7, 10am: A Small but Perfect Walk

Brighton. Get to know the stunning trees in Blakers park with tree enthusiast Ian Lamb.

Sun June 7, 11am & 1pm: Delight in our Orchard and Meadows

Hastings. Church Wood Community Orchard present two events: a chance to visit their Orchard, and later a chance to see their meadows. Bring lunch and have a picnic.

Sun June 7, 12pm: Treebourne Birthday Party, Picnic and Tree Celebration

Join Treebourne for our fifth birthday party and a celebration of trees and nature across Eastbourne. Our party will take place in Sevenoaks Recreation Ground, where we have planted over 10,000 trees.

Sun June 7, 1pm: My Tree’s Amazing!

Bexhill-on-Sea. Drop in and design and construct your very own mini tree! Use cardboard, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, yarn, ribbons and all kinds of other crafty bits.

Sun June 7, 2pm: Who lives in the trees?

Come join Michael Blencowe, renowned Sussex naturalist, for a family-friendly talk and guided walk on the Railway Land Nature Reserve.

Competitions, exhibitions and more

I love this tree because... Photographic competition

The Tree Festival photo competition is returning again this summer. We would love to see your submissions. Photo, Emma Jardine, 2024 winner.

March 28 to Sunday 21: Another Sussex

Worthing Museum: ‘Another Sussex’ is a fresh, contemporary perspective on local heritage. Just one of the many fabulous stories they’ll be telling is of Worthing’s Mid-Summer Oak.

2 June – 14 June: Trees in Stitches Exhibition

Exhibition at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery.

Thanks to our sponsors and supporters