Festival on the Ridge

Leeds has so many little pockets of community action and events, for those in the know… One of these is the annual Woodhouse Ridge Festival, taking place early July each year.

This is a wonderful example of grassroots community in action. Woodhouse Ridge is an area of mature woodland in the relatively close to the centre of Leeds which has been a leisure space since at least the mid 19th Century – it has a number of odd little areas and features, a WWII shelter, a listed packhorse bridge, areas which were perhaps once formal gardens, now overgrown, and the remains of a bandstand – the focus of this event.

Organised by volunteers from Hyde Park Source, Woodhouse Ridge Action Group with various stalls, kids activities, and food from The Real Junk Food Project this little event springs up in the morning, entertains until evening and then is all packed away for next year. Powered entirely sustainably by solar and bike power it is worth finding – keep your ears to the grapevine….