Author: caldmorecommunitygarden

How You Can Get Involved in This Year’s Festival of Lights Lantern Procession!

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The Festival of Lights is returning to Caldmore Community Garden on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November 2025 — and we want you to be part of the magic!

There are plenty of ways for local families, groups, and individuals to get involved in this year’s Lantern Procession on Sunday 9th November. From making your own lantern to joining our movement workshops, everyone is welcome to help light up Caldmore!

Lantern-Making Workshops

Wednesday 29th October – Family Lantern Making Workshop
11am–2pm
Caldmore Community Garden, WS1 3RH
Delivered by Bostin’ Arts, this fun and creative workshop is perfect for families and children to make their very own lanterns to carry in the Festival of Lights procession.

Saturday 1st November -Garden Saturday: Join the Procession Movement & Puppetry Workshop!

Would you like to be part of the Lantern Procession on Sunday 9th November?
Now’s your chance!

This Saturday 1st November, join Autin Dance Theatre at Caldmore Community Garden for a special Garden Saturday workshop. Families are invited to learn how to move together as a group, carrying beautifully lit-up props that will form part of this year’s magical Festival of Lights procession.

You’ll also get to explore the basics of puppetry — discovering how to bring props and creatures to life through movement, rhythm, and teamwork.

Session 1: 11am–12.45pm
Session 2: 1.15pm–3pm
Caldmore Community Garden, WS1 3RH

This friendly, creative workshop is open to everyone, of all ages – no experience needed!

Monday 3rd November – Women’s Lantern Workshop at Aaina Community Hub
11am–2pm
 Aaina Community Hub, 1 Bath Road, Walsall WS1 3BZ
A relaxed and welcoming women-only session with Bostin’ Arts — create your lantern and connect with others in a creative, friendly space.

Thursday 6th November – Tots Lantern Session
10.30am–12pm
Caldmore Community Garden
Our regular Tots at the Garden session will be all about little lights! Bring your little one to make a lantern for the procession. This session will be delivered by Bostin’ Arts

Saturday 8th November –Lantern Making with New Art Gallery Walsall
4pm – 5.30pm
Caldmore Community Garden
Your last chance to make a lantern before the big night! Drop in and get creative with New Art Gallery Walsall — all materials provided. Together, we’ll light up Caldmore with creativity, colour, and community spirit.
We can’t wait to see you there!

With thanks to National Lottery Community Fund and Arts Council England for making these opportunities possible!

October Half Term Holiday Activities at the Garden!

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Half Term Holiday Activities at Caldmore Community Garden

Free Entry!

Wednesday 29th October // 11am -2pm

Lantern Making workshop with Sam Hale from Bostin’ Arts, no booking required!

Thursday 30th October // 11am – 2pm

Powered by Can – art workshops for all the family! No booking required!

Friday 31st October // 11am – 2pm

Movie screening of a movie about wizards at a School of Magic (booking required)

11am – 2pm

Followed by Harry Potter Event, 5pm – 7pm Free entry!

Saturday 1st November // 11am – 12.45pm & 1.15pm – 3pm

Dance & movement workshop with Autin Dance (booking required)

phone: 07384112507

email: caldmoregarden@gmail.com

Gardening workshop with Garden Organic

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Encouraging Biodiversity with Garden Organic on Tuesday 21st October 2025

Garden Organic will be delivering a workshop at Caldmore Cummunity Garden on Tuesday 21st October
12pm – 3pm

Garden Organic workshop at Caldmore Community Garden
21st October
12-3pm
Encouraging Biodiversity
Trainer: Caroline Nettleford

– The importance of biodiversity for your growing and the
environment
– How to make your garden more biodiverse and wildlife
friendly
– Choosing plants and growing methods to attract different species

please book your free space emailing caldmoregarden@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 07384112705

This workshop is free and funded through National Lottery Community Fund

Festival of Lights 2025

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We are excited to announce this year’s Festival of Lights programme!

Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November 2025

Caldmore Village Festival presents : Festival of Lights 2025

A weekend of creativity! Free! 8th-9th November

A weekend of creativity and performing arts in Caldmore to light up all the community!

Saturday 8th November 2025

4.30pm // Family Lantern making workshop, with artist Daya Bhatti. 5+ with adult supervision (email caldmoregarden@gmail.com or whatsapp 07871813252)

6pm // Mr Shadow: Hand Shadow performance by Drew Colby

7pm Hand Shadow workshop

7.30pm // Fire Show with Helter Skelter

Sunday 9th November 2025

5.45pm // (meet at the garden)

6pm // Lantern Procession with RSVP Bhangra Band, B’Opera & Thingumajig Theatre

Come dressed up & light up the night!!!

7.30pm // Ghost Caribou performance with Thingumajig Theatre

Doors open half-an-hour before performance time.

The café will be open with drinks and refreshments

With thanks to National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, Black Country Touring and The New Art Gallery Walsall

Autin Dance Theatre Announced as Associate Artistic Company at Caldmore Community Garden

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This collaboration celebrates our shared commitment to community-rooted arts, creativity and storytelling!

All photographs taken by Kate Jackson https://www.katejacksonphotography.co.uk/

Caldmore Community Garden is delighted to announce Autin Dance Theatre as our new Associate Artistic Company. We’re excited to have Autin Dance on board to bring new and inspiring elements to our annual Festival of Lights procession.

Our ongoing work with Autin Dance Theatre follows a series of successful creative projects, iFestival of Lights in 2023 and 2024, where Autin Dance Theatre captivated audiences with roaming and stage performances featuring the iconic Brimstone the Dragon and Echo the Sea Giant from Out of the Deep Blue.

As part of this year’s Festival of Lights 2025, Autin Dance Theatre will be working with Year 5 pupils at Caldmore Primary Academy to create a choreographed movement piece for the annual lantern procession through Caldmore.

In addition, there will be two opportunities for families to also take part in the lantern procession and learn some choreographed movement with Autin Dance Theatre during our Garden Saturday workshops

These free, creative sessions are open to children, parents, carers, and local residents of all ages. Together we’ll explore movement, storytelling, and simple performance techniques to build confidence, connection, and shared celebration. Everyone is welcome!

Whether you’ve danced before or not!

Together we’ll shape the light and movement of the Festival of Lights Lantern Procession!

Dates: Saturday 25 October & Saturday 1 November
Times: 11am–1pm and 1pm–3pm (two separate workshops for families to sign up to – please look on social media for sign up links)
Location: Caldmore Community Garden

With thanks to Arts Council England for funding this project

About Autin Dance Theatre

Autin Dance Theatre is an award-winning, innovative dance company and registered charity

based in Birmingham, UK, under the artistic direction of acclaimed choreographer Johnny Autin.

ADT’s mission is to inspire, educate, and drive positive social change through thought-provoking

and engaging multi-disciplinary arts activities. The company actively connects with local

communities, participants, and audiences, delivering work in theatres, public outdoor spaces,

and unconventional settings.

As a collaborative ensemble known for its unique blend of contemporary storytelling, striking

physicality, and large-scale designs, ADT creates socially inclusive and mass- participatory

movement projects across the UK and internationally. From dynamic outdoor processions to

immersive static performances, the company transports audiences on unforgettable journeys. Its

critically acclaimed productions include Out of the Deep Blue, Street Games, Brimstone the

Dragon, Parade – The Giant Wheel, and Light Up Fest, all of which have garnered a strong

reputation for impactful community engagement and artistic excellence.

In 2025, ADT is performing Up in the Sky, a groundbreaking new aerial dance production

featuring a colossal 7-metre rig, exploring themes of displacement, resilience, and belonging.

autindt.co.uk

@AutinDT

For full details about the company please visit: autindt.co.uk

Autin Dance Theatre media contacts:

Artistic Director Johnny Autin johnny@autindt.co.uk +44 (0) 755 798 1497

Autin Dance Theatre CIO | Birmingham, UK |T: +44 (0) 755 798 1497| hello@autindt.co.uk

autindt.co.uk | @AutinDT | Registered Company No 10824986 | Charity No 1210281

Festival Coordinator Kirsten Tranter kirsten@autindt.co.uk

Creative Producer Annalise McIntyre annalise@autindt.co.uk

Outdoor Arts Consultant Adam Towndrow adam@autindt.co.uk

Education & Participation Coordinator Natasha Boyes natasha@autindt.co.uk

Communication & Marketing Paulina Ozynska paulina@autindt.co.uk

Autin Dance Theatre CIO | Birmingham, UK |T: +44 (0) 755 7

Harry Potter Night!

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Friday 31st October 2025, 5-7pm

Get your wands ready and your cloaks on – it’s time for a Harry Potter evening at the Garden

Come dressed as your favourite witch or wizard and discover which Hogwarts House you belong to! We can’t wait to see your costumes!

Join us for:

Potions lessons

Sorting Hat

Forbidden forests

Make your own wand

…Expect the unexpected!

Froglife at Leap into Autumn

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On Saturday 20th September 2025 we will be marking the changing of seasons with our Leap Into Autumn event.

This year we’re working in partnership with Froglife who will be celebrating their Coalface to Wildspace project which is coming to an end after 3 years.

Froglife is a national wildlife charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles – frogs, toads, newts, snakes and lizards – and saving the habitats they depend on.

Join us in celebrating with Froglife where you and your family can take part in a range of activities!

  • Amphibian clay zone- make your favourite amphibian or reptile out of clay
  • Sound zone- listen to soundscapes we have created with people from around Walsall about their nature experiences
  • Habitat Exhibition stall – showcasing the ponds and habitats we have made around Walsall
  • Pond dipping with FrogLife at the following times 12.30pm/2pm/2.30pm/3pm/3.30pm
  • 3D short film showing, Frogglebox – Layers through time
  • Layers of Time Lego® Brick Display – take a look at one of our amazing Lego displays and have a go at creating a wildlife friendly garden from Lego
  • Birmingham and Black country Amphibian and Reptile group- stall about their work
  • Juneau Projects will be making wooden wildlife medallions
  • Lego exhibit- take a look at one of our amazing Lego displays and have a go at creating a wildlife friendly garden from Lego

See you on Saturday 20th September 12-4pm!

Coalface to Wildspace, Midlands

What is the project about?

Coalface to Wildspace, Midlands is an exciting project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the West Midlands Combined Authority. The project is focusing around neighbourhoods across Walsall from 2022 to the end of 2025.

There has previously been very little focus on reptile and amphibian conservation in this region, so this project is raising awareness through public engagement, improving habitat through community interventions, and bringing attention to local natural and geological heritage.

To find out more information about Coalface to Wildspace click the link below

Coalface to Wildspace, Midlands

Leap Into Autumn – Saturday 20th September 2025

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Join us on Saturday 20th September for a fun packed family day welcoming Autumn to the garden!

12-4pm

We’re celebrating the changing seasons with a day of family fun, this year we’re working in partnership with Froglife, who will be showcasing their Coalface to Wildspace project.

✨ What’s On ✨

Exhibitions, stalls & creative activities with Juneau Projects

Arts & crafts inspired by autumn, hibernation, frogs & mushrooms

The Mushroom Show by Scratchworks Theatre at 1pm – a magical performance for all ages

Interactive workshop with the theatre company at 2pm (spaces limited to 30 participants – you can book your spot in the interval)

🌿 Come along, get creative, and celebrate autumn with us!

with thanks to National Lottery Community Fund, Heritage Fund and Black Country Touring for making this event possible

A Little Piece of Me for the Whole of Us – free art workshops with Tina Hofman

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Yam From Here: Migration and the Making of the Black Country

Step into an inspiring world of stories, games and shared experiences in this free three part workshop series

To book please click the link or scan QR code below:

Register on Eventbrite

Step into an inspiring world of stories, games, and shared experiences with multidisciplinary artist Tina Hofman – performer, director, researcher, and co-founder of Notnow Collective and the Migrants in Theatre network. Born in former Yugoslavia, Tina’s work is rooted in movement and storytelling foregrounding questions of memory, chaos and fantasy, care, and migrancy.

Across three playful and immersive workshops, participants will explore themes of Home, Journeys, and Community. Guided by Tina’s signature approach – from participatory performance, dynamic storytelling, sensory experiences, and multilingual games – each session is an invitation to connect, create, and reflect together.

The workshops will culminate in the Tile Shifting Mural – a collective artwork built tile-by-tile, each representing personal identity, memories, and ideas related to the Yam from Here project. Through visual design and short audio descriptions, the mural becomes a shared space for dialogue, inclusivity, and discovery.

Expect laughter, learning, and a celebration of diverse voices. Whether through games, choral storytelling, or creative making, you’ll contribute “a little piece of me for the whole of us” – leaving with not just art, but a stronger sense of community.

Find out more: tinahofman.org | @hofmanica | notnowcollective.com

Delivered by the European’s Welfare Association

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund

What?

A free workshop series exploring Home. Journeys and Community in the Black Country hosted by theatre-maker Tina Hofman.

From storytelling, performance-art and tile-making, each session is an invitation to connect, create and reflect together.

When?

September 6th                  2.30-6.30pm

September 19th               6pm – 9pm

October 11th                      2.30pm – 6.30pm

Where?

Caldmore Community Garden

12 Careless St

Walsall, WS1 3RH

Caldmore Community Garden Receives A Green Flag Community Award For The Seventh Year Running

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Walsall garden raises the Green Flag for seventh year running

A much-loved community garden in the heart of Walsall is celebrating once more after receiving national recognition for the seventh year in a row.

Caldmore Community Garden has again been awarded a Green Flag Community Award, recognising the continued dedication of local residents in creating and maintaining one of the country’s best community-managed green spaces.

The award, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, sets the benchmark for publicly accessible parks and green spaces across the UK. It celebrates well-managed spaces that bring people together, support biodiversity, and provide vital opportunities for health and wellbeing.

Established in 2011 on a once-derelict piece of land owned by Midlands landlord whg, the garden is managed by Caldmore Village Festival Group and supported by Walsall Council. It has grown into a vibrant community hub where people can come together to grow food, connect with others and enjoy the outdoors.

The award comes just months after the garden’s long-term future was secured, thanks to a lease extension jointly agreed between whg and Caldmore Village Festival Group. The longer lease provides stability for the group and will support their ambitions to attract additional funding and expand the activities on offer for local residents.

Mohammed Arif, Chair of the Caldmore Village Festival Group Board, said:
“The Green Flag recognition is a fantastic way to showcase our community garden and the house. On behalf of the Caldmore Village Festival Board, I would like to thank Walsall Council and whg for their continued support, and our staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts to maintain and improve this space.

“We are very fortunate to have had Walsall Council and whg as our core partners from day one. Their support has made a huge difference in helping us attract funding for activities that benefit the diverse community we serve, alongside the dedication of our staff and volunteers.”

Sarah Clarke, Director of Housing and Customer Service at whg, said:
“Caldmore Village Festival Group have created something really special. Their commitment and creativity have transformed the garden into a safe, welcoming space that strengthens community bonds and supports wellbeing, and the Green Flag award is a deserved reflection of these achievements.”

Cllr Adrian Andrew, Deputy Leader of Walsall Council, said:
“The commitment of the local community and the Caldmore Village Board to this project has been incredible, creating an oasis of green and tranquillity in the middle of the urban sprawl. Green Flag recognition is a reflection of the hard work that has gone into the garden, and my congratulations go to all involved.”

Caldmore Community Garden is open to all free of charge.

Pictured (L to R): Sarah Clarke, Steve Breeze, David Lawrence, Anna Webster, Mohamed Arif, Estelle Fisher and Cllr Adrian Andrew celebrate by raising the flag.