Adult ticket (18+): £26
Children (8-17): £10
Children (under 8): Free
Tickets purchased online will incur a small booking fee. Tickets are also available to purchase in East Gate Bookshop, 62 Fore St, Totnes TQ9 5RU
*Please note, food and drink are not included in the ticket price and there is no parking at the farm.
We have brilliant authors speaking on the day, all bringing their own unique expertise, passion and experience to the festival!
Showcasing the beauty and rich biodiversity of UK grasslands, from meadows to mires to heathlands, John Wright introduces them in all their variety: the history of how grasslands came to be, what can be found there, what we risk with their loss and what can be done to save what is left. Most of all, he shows why we should care. Because grasslands are never just patches of grass.
In a series of seasonal chapters, exploring the wildlife, folklore and medicinal properties of common wild plants, The Wild Within tells Brigit’s own story of recovery and rewilding: an immersive, enriching and sensory journey of healing, one wild plant at a time.
In Wilderlands, archaeologist Eloise Kane unearths 12,000 years of our changing relationship with and influence on the landscape. Through prehistory, Roman occupation, the Middle Ages and beyond.
Merlin returned to his childhood home Cabilla, a Cornish hill farm in the heart of Bodmin Moor. There he is met by unexpected challenges: a failing farm and one of the UK’s last remaining fragments of Atlantic temperate rainforest being ravaged by overgrazing. Falling back in love with the rainforest he had adventured in as a child, Our Oaken Bones is an honest and intimate true story about renewal, the astonishing healing power of nature, and our duty to heal it in return.
The day will be filled with talks, walks, books, authors, discussions, family activities and delicious locally sourced food.
Please aim to arrive at the farm between 9 and 10 a.m. The day will begin with introductions, orientations, and a chance to grab a hot drink and breakfast roll. Throughout the day there will be four guest author talks. Authors will read and present from their books either outside around the farm or inside the barn (weather dependent)! There will be Q&A sessions after each talk giving people a chance to ask questions.
The day will be split with two author talks before, and two author talks after lunch. Forest school activities for children and live music will be going on at intervals throughout the day. After the final author, there is an early evening BBQ. Following this we will hold a panel discussion, providing lively and stimulating chat around the festival’s themes.
Delicious locally sourced food, made with organic ingredients will be available to purchase on the day.
Food tokens will be available to purchase at the café/bar for breakfast, lunch, and the evening BBQ. You are welcome to bring your own flasks and food if you prefer.
Refreshments (tea/coffee and soft drinks) will be available to purchase throughout the day from the café/bar. Alcoholic drinks will also be available.
Throughout the day, there will be a forest school at the festival; and don’t miss Wild Birds Singing, a singing group for families, lead by the amazing Holly Ebony.
This year we are delighted that singer-songwriter, Colin Manson will be performing his wonderful folk music throughout the day.
Walk from Totnes:
Walk or cycle along the beautiful River Dart. It’s a 45-minute walk to Lower Sharpham Farm from Totnes. If you would like company, a group will be setting off from The Plains in Totnes by The Curator Café at 9:00 am.
Bob the Bus:
Totnes Community Bus Group will be running a shuttle service to and from the farm on the day. To get to the festival the service will depart from outside The Bull Inn on the Rotherford and will run between 8:30 and 10 am, providing at least three opportunities to ride to the festival. For the return journey, from 5:30 pm, there will be two buses providing at least six opportunities to travel back to Totnes. Transport by Bob the Bus is included in the ticket price.
Please be aware the timings may change in the meantime, please confirm times closer to the event.
Thank you to everyone who joined our fourth annual celebration of literature and nature at Lower Sharpham Farm on Saturday 17th of May 2025. We hope it inspired conversation and curiosity surrounding nature recovery and our role in it. The event featured talks from four amazing guest authors, and culminated in a thought-provoking panel discussion.
We heard from Bonnie Lander Johnson about our dwindling connection to plants and how to find our path back to this invaluable natural resource; from Poppy Okotcha about her experience entering the world of gardening and how it can teach us sustainability in many different ways; from Sophie Pavelle about symbiotic relationships and what they might teach us to help adapt to the climate challenges we face; and from Guy Shrubsole, all about how landowners have pushed out and neglected nature, and how certain communities are fighting back to bring space for nature to our land again.
The Kitchen Table served a delicious array of organic, locally-sourced food. Wild Birds Singing led a singalong for the kids, alongside forest school activities in the woodland, led by Cathryn Grace. In the farmyard, Colin Manson and his band played fantastic folk tunes throughout the day.
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