A NATURE group is holding a festival to celebrate ecology through art.

The Friends of Atherton Wildlife and Nature (FAWN) will host the AFN (Arts for Nature) Festival this Sunday, August 10, at Atherton Cricket Club on Eckersley Fold Lane.

Greater Manchester Local Record Centre will be leading wildlife walks on the day and there will be art work-shops and live music between 11am and 11pm.

Angela Balmer, one of the FAWN founders, said: “We are a voluntary group who work with the community and a range of partnership agencies."

“We have started to create records with the support of the record centre and the From Grey to Green Project.“The positive feedback from previous workshop events informed the idea of creating an event to celebrate ecology through art.”

Artist Phoebe Myers will be making a series of bird boxes which will be painted by families on the day which will then be installed along with the advice of ecologists to create a ‘housing occupation’ for resident birds.

“Visual artists will be creating some interesting work for the event, including an earth loom, bird song inspired sound art, a map-making workshop and large-scale group drawings,” said Angela.

FAWN is working with Tyldesley’s Cadence Café to promote local musical talent and Launch Events will create an outdoor artisan market for the day.

Andy Burnham will open it at noon and entry is free for children and £1 for adults including a raffle ticket.