The time has come for businesses and local groups to get involved with St Albans’ 2019 eco-friendly festival.

Registration is about to open for the fourth Sustainable St Albans and everyone is being encouraged to get involved.

It is an award-winning festival which is run by volunteers and sees a jam-packed schedule of events come to the district to promote environmental sustainability.

The roster in previous years has included litter picks, educational activities, and business discounts on reusable cups.

A member of the festival organising group, Lesley Flowers, said: “Last year we were thrilled to see so many diverse activities happen with new groups getting involved all the time, like the staff at a local care home taking residents out to clear up litter from their local area.

“It’s a great opportunity to get people talking about our local environment in a really creative way; whether it’s a church building a bee hotel, neighbours opening a free community library; or allotment groups having an open day to encourage people to grow their own.”

The festival started in 2015 and has since been awarded Environmental Champion of the Year and Community Project of the Year in the Mayor’s Pride Awards.

Volunteers hail from St Albans Friends of the Earth and Sustainable St Albans.

St Albans BID manager, Helen Burridge, said: “I am delighted that the sustainability festival is taking place again in 2019 and we hope that many local businesses will see this as an opportunity to promote their commitment to the environment, and do something creative during the three weeks.”

It will run from May 11 to June 1, up from just one week in April last year.

Chair of the organising group, Catherine Ross, said: “We have responded to feedback and have extended the festival to three weeks to give people more opportunity to visit the events and activities that take place; from talks with major speakers, to nature walks organised across the district.

“The Big Lottery [Fund] have agreed a grant to cover the core funding, which means we can now go-ahead with this fourth sustainability festival. We expect over one hundred local groups to take part, and all they need to do is fill in our simple online form to take part.”

Registration is open from January 2 to 31 at www.sustainablestalbans.orgDates, times, and venue specifics are needed in order to register.