Events
Respect Festival
11-12 July 2026
On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July 10am-4.30pm, the Leechwell Garden is hosting the Respect Festival. The year’s event is called Hidden Gems. We will be hunting for the hidden gems of flora and fauna that the garden offers. There will be stories from all over the world as well as tales from Totnesians.
Agbo Play will be back with tales from Benin, Niall will tell Scottish stories, Tony Gee will be telling a tale from the Middle East , Kevin Payne, the Exeter Bard will weave his word magic and Andigwa Dance will run an African Dance workshop. And there’s more!!!
It’s free, there will be refreshments and an international pot luck Picnic Lunch on the Sunday. Please bring food to share.
~ RESPECT FESTIVAL SCHEDULE ~
SATURDAY 11 JULY
10.00. Opening and Crow Show – Tony Gee. The two crows are back: Wa-oh and Caw – grandmother and grandson crows are back to pose a few questions to the two-legged featherless ones who use the garden.
10.45. Kevin Payne – The former Exeter Bard (‘25-‘26) and author presents two highly interactive sets of poetry, stories and will introduce the hunt for the garden’s “hidden gems”.
11.00 Hidden Gems Competition
12.00 Judging, Prize giving and a shared garden poem.
12.30 -1.30. Lunch
1.30. Kevin Payne – participatory poetry set
2.30. Totnes Telling Tales – Stories told by Totnesians of our local and international connections, recent history and folk tales blended together from The Totnes Book of Ours.
3.30 Agbo Play – Song, drum and dance weave stories of magic and murder, clowns and coronations from the ancient African kingdom of Benin.
4.30. End
SUNDAY 12 JULY
10.00. Introduction Two
10.15 Tales of a Far and Wide Cat by Tony – animated Tale of the Far and Wide Cat, the huge and magical Mia, whilst using puppets to tell an ancient Arabian tale about a fisherman who is down on his luck.
11.15 Niall Scottish storyteller – Join critically acclaimed and award-winning storyteller Niall Moorjani for an hour of Scottish folk tales for all the family which delight and dazzle in equal measure. Expect Dragons, Kelpies, Giants and many more mythical majesties.
12.30. The Great International Pot Luck Picnic Lunch with World Tales from Totnes. Bring food to share for a massive picnic!!!
2.30 Agbo Play– Red Corals for my Crown – Part Two
3.30 Andigwa Dance workshop – Enjoy dances from Southern Africa! A line dance from South Africa, and a lion dance from The Great Dance – Gule Wamkulu – of the Chewa tribe of Malawi.
4.30 Close
Easter Egg Hunt
Held on Easter Monday 6 April, lots of parents and children came to the garden to hunt for Easter eggs! The garden looked wonderful in the early spring sunshine. Click on an image below to see the image slideshow.
Holding Activities in the Garden
If you are interested in using the garden to host a communal activity, please contact us.
Note that all activities in the garden are subject to some basic rules:
- public access to the garden must still be possible – the garden cannot be closed for private events
- although you may ask for charitable donations, you cannot charge for access
- the garden is meant to be relatively peaceful, so no loud, amplified music for example.
