Foraging Fortnight
Virtual foraging classes, live-stream cookery and online wilderness crafts – the popular Foraging Fortnight festival goes digital on Orkney
Take part in online events and go foraging yourself in this celebration of the hedgerows
LIKE most things planned for May 2020, Scotland’s biggest foraging and wild food festival, Foraging Fortnight, experienced an abrupt and unexpected postponement due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Despite the initial setback and the many unpredictable months to follow, the organisers have been busy getting creative.
They have reinvented the festival element of Foraging Fortnight and have created a brand new virtual foraging experience, set against the stunning backdrop of Orkney.
Howie Firth, event manager of Foraging Fortnight, is delighted to be bringing the festival to a global audience.
“We had a few uncertain weeks,” he says, “but then a very lively time planning a full online experience with a team of presenters who are looking forward to welcoming everyone from near and far.”
The festival, funded by the Scottish Rural Development Programme, will now run entirely online from August 29 to September 13, 2020. This new program is a specially curated element of the long-standing Orkney International Science Festival and aims to equip everyone with the confidence to carry out foraging activities in their own time.
This year’s Foraging Fortnight line-up includes well-known ethnobotanist Anna Canning who will be hosting a series of streamed foraging walks; food writer Wendy Barrie who is partnering with local bakers and foragers to host a live cooking demonstration;
and artist Lin Chau, who will show attendees how to make paper from wild ingredients. Other events include virtual island outings, foraging talks and wilderness training.
“Anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection will be able to join us,” says Howie. “We will be journeying to islands such as Hoy and the golden beach at Rackwick, Graemsay with its roadside flowers and seabirds, and an Orkney kitchen where we’ll discover how to cook scallops with seaweed and chickweed.”
The majority of the events will be free and streamed live on the Foraging Fortnight website, with the chance to interact with course leaders. Some events may incur a charge to cover the cost of sending out activity kits.
Workshop provider Anna Canning, a qualified medical herbalist and experienced foraging instructor, hosted sell-out foraging walks at last year’s festival and will be returning in this year’s unique digital space.
“The aim is to encourage and inspire people to go out and explore for themselves, and to do so safely and responsibly, wherever they are,” she says.
“Foraging is not just about free food or fashionable dining, but about how humans can interact intimately, kindly and productively with the natural environment for reciprocal benefit.
“It’s amazing what you can learn about soil, landscape, wildlife, as well as past and present human interactions with the land just by exploring the useful plants you find.”
In previous years, the foraging festival has taken place across five regions of Scotland – Lanarkshire, Fife, Forth and Loch Lomond, Moray, and Orkney. People of all ages are encouraged to participate in foraging activities, and to become more aware of the benefits of wild plants.
Foraging Fortnight events encourage adherence to Scotland’s Outdoor Access Code and organisers have put together foraging guidelines to ensure that those taking part are doing so in a safe and responsible way.
Howie believes this foraging festival is an important step towards reconnecting sustainably with nature and lockdown is the perfect time to embark on this mission.
“If humans are going to have a future, we must fundamentally change our relationship with the natural world,” says Howie.
“Indeed, I think that lockdown has led to many people finding a deeper enjoyment in sunshine and fresh air and looking around more closely at the richness of life around us.
“The freshness and nutrition in something like a dandelion salad that we’ve gathered ourselves, compared to something in plastic that’s been flown 1000 miles, is something everyone can enjoy.”
For more information on this year’s program and to book tickets visit www.foragingfortnight.co.uk