Edinburgh Treefest & Woodmarket is a great fun day out for the family and a brilliant opportunity to buy some of the best wooden products in Scotland.

The free two-day event on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th June in Inverleith Park (opposite the Botanical Gardens) is massively popular with over 10,000 people expected to join in a feast of activities, exhibitions and events. One of the highlights for this year will be an extreme mountain bike display organised by Forestry Commission Scotland's 7stanes biking team.

An added attraction to all the fun and frolics is the Wood Market which shows off a huge range of wooden products including indoor and outdoor furniture, tree houses, oak wine, Scots pine ale, wooden pens, tepees, sawn wood, carvings, crafts, shaker boxes, play equipment and baskets. It's a once in a year opportunity to buy unique Scottish forest products.

The whole event will open with local schoolchildren in costume injecting a carnival atmosphere by launching the event with the Carnival of the Trees Procession on Saturday morning leaving from Inverleith Park at 11am. More than 100 children will be led through Stockbridge by a horse-logging team, and joined by other festival participants, including the popular Woodland Puppets.

At the park itself, attractions will include:

- extreme mountain bike display;
- the new Wood Market ;
- axe-throwing, including the Scottish Open Championships;
- a new skateboard ramp;
- horse logging demonstrations, in which horses are used to pull logs out of woodlands;
- chainsaw demonstrations;
- a wide range of displays, sales and demonstrations of woodcrafts and woodland products of all sorts in tepees and marquees;
- opportunities for visitors to try their hand at wood and other crafts;
- activities and entertainments, including puppet shows, story telling, music and a grand raffle; and
- refreshments and beer tent.

Organiser Carole Fraser of the Four Winds Inspiration Centre said,

"It is a great pleasure organising this festival - there is a such a brilliant range of demos, activities and products, and first class entertainment and refreshments. Because of the enthusiasm, talents and professionalism of those involved it is always an excellent event with something for everyone!"

This year, Forestry Commission Scotland is promoting their Active Woods campaign aimed at getting more people off the sofa and out to the forest for a healthier and more active lifestyle. Part of their promotion is to bring the 7stanes mountain bike display team to Edinburgh. Julie Snodgrass from the Commission said:

"The event is going to be brilliant this year as we have so many activities on the go. For the first time we are bringing an extreme mountain bike display team to the park, so be prepared to watch expert bikers balance on timber see-saws and dropping off 10 foot ramps. It's all about getting the message across that forests and woodlands are great places for exercise and to get that feel-good factor."

Edinburgh Treefest & Wood Market is the Lothian & Borders Treefest Partnership’s flagship event. Lothian and Borders Treefest chairman John Blyth said,

"This is a great opportunity to show off all the fantastic benefits that Scotland's forests and woodlands have to offer. A big thanks must go to Forestry Commission Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, the European Regional Development Fund, Four Winds and other Treefest partners, as they've laid on an amazing day out which is free to the public."

Edinburgh Treefest & Wood Market runs from 11am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. Inverleith Park is immediately west of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and is bounded by Inverleith Place, Fettes Avenue, Arboretum Place and the Edinburgh Academicals' sports ground and Grange cricket ground. It is accessible on several bus routes, and paths in the park are mostly paved and negotiable by wheelchairs and baby buggies.

Further information about Edinburgh Treefest is available from Carole Fraser on 0131 332 2229. Further information about other woodland events throughout Scotland this year is available by visiting www.treefestscotland.org.uk/events or by phoning 0131 314 6444.

For more information about the Forestry Commission Scotland's Active Woods campaign log on to www.forestry.gov.uk/active.

NOTES TO EDITOR:

1. Edinburgh Treefest was first held as part Treefest Scotland 2002, a Scotland-wide series of events throughout the year to celebrate Scotland's trees, woods and forests. The Lothian & Borders Treefest partnership comprises a wide range of organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors who come together to promote tree- and woodland-related events in the region.

2. The 7stanes is the name of a mountain bike project led by Forestry Commission Scotland and a number of partners. The project is building seven mountain bike centres across the south of Scotland. Log on to www.7stanes.gov.uk.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Four Winds Inspiration Centre - Carole Fraser, 0131 332 2229;
Forestry Commission Scotland – Steve Williams 0131 314 6508.