Plans Revealed For Liverpool Spring Festival 2018

LIVERPOOL Spring Festival is set to take over Sefton Park, from 28 April to 29 April 2018, with a fun packed weekend for visitors of all ages. The outdoor event features a whole raft of interactive workshops, a producers' market, DJ sets and there will also be plenty of food and drink on offer.

During the weekend, families can enjoy a programme of entertaining and educational sessions, which are themed around nature and wildlife, including seed planting and herb workshops, as well as birds of prey and mini beasts.

There is plenty more to keep young animal lovers busy with a pop-up farm, where youngsters can get up close to guinea pigs, rabbits and ferrets. There will also be an opportunity to bottle feed baby lambs and goats and there will be a cow milking challenge, where children and adults can try their hand at milking Daisy, Stockley Farm's very own wooden cow.

The festival includes an entertaining sheep show, which is guaranteed to make the audience smile as nine different breeds of sheep appear on stage, each with their own theme tune. Visitors will learn about the different breeds of sheep, the wool they produce and there will be an opportunity to watch the skill involved in sheep shearing.

There will also be arts and crafts, a vintage fairground, storytelling sessions and donkey rides throughout the weekend.

Visitors who prefer a more laid back weekend can choose from a number of health and wellbeing workshops including yoga, meditation, relaxation and healthy eating.

Isabella Kantor, Liverpool Spring Festival Event Manager, said:- "Spring is a time to celebrate all that is good about nature and the outdoors, as the weather starts to warm up. Through Liverpool Spring Festival, we are aiming to give people a reason to get together to enjoy the best of the season with outdoor fun that will appeal to the whole family.  There will be plenty to keep visitors entertained with such a jam packed programme of activities and interactive workshops to choose from. Anyone looking for a more laid back experience can simply stroll through the festival site, browsing the stalls and soaking up the atmosphere. Whatever your preference, it's set to be a fantastic weekend."

Liverpool Spring Festival is a sister event to Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, which will take place from 15 September to 16 September 2018.

Tickets to Liverpool Spring Festival start from ₤7 and entry for children (under 14) is free. Visit:- LiverpoolFoodAndDrinkFestival.Co.UK for tickets and further information.

Log on to our paper next week to find out how you can be in with a chance to win tickets to this event!

Easter Steam at the West Lancashire Light Railway

IF you want something different for Easter, take a look at Easter Steam, on the West Lancashire Light Railway. Starting with the launch of the railways new season on Good Friday, 30 March 2018, the local attractions Easter programme features yet again the railways very popular Easter Egg Hunt, on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Hosted, by the WLLR Easter Bunnies, who will lead the way in the hunt for the missing Easter Eggs. Plus can you help then solve the Easter puzzle? Fill in the missing letters and ask the Rabbit for a prize!

The events run from 11.30am to 4.30pm.

Tickets valid all day - as many rides as you like:-

► Adult:- ₤4.50.

► Children:- ₤3.00 (under 3 free)

► Senior:- ₤3.50, Family:- ₤12.00.

Coming up after Easter will be the WLLR Friendly Engines' Day, on Sunday, 22 April 2018. A chance for the younger railway enthusiast to meet the WLLR's Friendly Engines, up close and personal.

"After the excitement and celebrations of our 50th Anniversary season, 2018 is likely to be quieter. But we will be operating as usual, providing a full programme of Sunday afternoon steam, Bank Holiday and Special Events for families and railway enthusiasts. But also, 2018 may be the year in which the future of the site, and of the Railway, is finally decided. We very much hope that our future is here, as a unique asset of Hesketh Bank and the neighbouring villages." said the West Lancashire Light Railway.

If you do not know where the WLLR is, it is located just outside Southport, on the way to Preston. The full address is:- Station Road, Hesketh Bank, PR4 6SP.

Call:- 01772 815881 or visit:- WestLancs.Org for more information.

"I'm dreaming of a White Easter"

IT sounds like an April 1st joke, but even though Easter is on the April 1st, it's less likely to be a joke. As Britain is now getting ready for a potential White Easter. In fact White Easters have been more common than white Christmases over the past ½ century.

Many people forget that the Christian festival of Easter moves around on the calendar, so therefore it tends to lend itself to some interesting weather stats. Nor should we forget that 20% of all Easters actually fall in March. Leading forecasters, describe March and April as 'transition months, between winter and spring' so it is not so surprising to have the promise of a "White Easter." We do not have to go that far back to find the examples of heavy, disruptive snowfalls over Easter, with the last being in 1983. But in 2013, when Easter fell in March, more than 70 motorists were left stranded in Cumbria, due to snow drifts. Infact the UK's Met Office has reported sleet or snow falling somewhere over the UK in:- 2008, 1998, 1994, 1986, 1978, 1877 and 1975.

On Twitter last week, we asked people if they thought we would get a "White Easter" and we got a very interesting response.  Also over the 16 March and 19 March we asked local bookmakers about betting on the chance of us having a "White Easter."  Most of the staff in the betting shops were looking at us as if we were mad. William Hill said, via a Twitter Message to us, that they were not taking bets on a "White Easter," and others groups also added that they did not do it. Interestingly, the UK's Met Office has added that:- "It's more likely for us to get snow at Easter than it is at Christmas..."  We did, however, find out that the Bookmaker's, Coral, were taking bets and that they had slashed the odds for snow to fall in any major UK City over the Easter weekend.

There is still uncertainty over the outlook, but a growing number of computer models are indicating it, so get ready for Easter Egg Hunts in the snow... So what are your views on a "White Easter?" Have you put a bet down?

Please do let us know via emailing us to:- News24@SouthportReporter.com with your thoughts on this... Also it is worth noting that long range forecasts predict another heat wave this summer...

Will they be correct? Will Easter give us a fitting April 1st to remember, or will it have another joke in store, a heat wave?