We have an exciting line up of events and activities to enjoy in the Garden – from open-air music to family trails – scroll down to find out more!
No matter when you are planning to visit over the summer, you can enjoy the beauty of the season everyday by taking a wander through a range of plantings, explore our collections or discover the weekly Plant Picks, selected by our Head of Horticulture. We also have a range of free family and adult trails, available to collect and follow from our Tickets Offices.
We hope you enjoy your visit!
Festival of Plants: Saturday 14 June 2025, 10am – 5pm
The Festival of Plants is a fun-filled, fact-finding day out, celebrating the wonder of plants. There’s something for everyone to enjoy: from families to photographers, gardeners to budding plant scientists or anyone looking to spend an uplifting day in beautiful surroundings when the Garden is full of summer colour.
Join us for:
🪴Pop-up, family-friendly, interactive plant science stalls
🪴 10-minute, bite-size plant talks
🪴 ‘Ask-the-Gardener’ panel of experts
🪴 Free, guided Garden tours
🪴 Children’s craft activities
🪴 Live music and pop-up food trucks
Sounds Green: every Wednesday evening in July, 6.15– 8.30pm
Relax with family and friends and enjoy an evening of live, open-air music from Cambridge Summer Music every Wednesday evening in July.
- 2 July – Prime Brass featuring Daisy Livesey
- 9 July – Essex Jazz Collective
- 16 July – Beskydy: Klezmer Band
- 23 July – Honey and the Bear
- 30 July – Cores Do Samba
🎵 Picnics are welcome. Food and drink will be provided by food trucks and The Garden Café.
🎵 Bring a rug or picnic chair and relax in beautiful surroundings to some stunning musical sounds!
For Families:
🌻 Bee School Summer Adventure: pick up this free summer trail and you’ll instantly become the newest pupil in Bee School! The trail runs from 28 May – 16 July.
🌻 Professor Filbert’s Plant Heroes: a squirrel (Prof Filbert) is searching around the Botanic Garden because they’ve heard that humans have made some exciting discoveries about plants. Join the Prof on a free family trail, running from 17 July onwards.
🌻Bat Patrol: come for a twilight ramble through the Botanic Garden and learn about the fascinating world of bats on 22 August. There will be a chance to use our bat detectors, find out about what bats eat, where they live and have your questions answered.
🌻Family Saturdays Programme: enjoy free plant and wildlife themed crafts on the first Saturday of every month. This summer why not take part in:
- Plants from Pips: Saturday 7 June. Turn kitchen scraps into living plants!
- Meet the Mints: Saturday 5 July. Explore the fresh and fabulous mint family.
- Nature Butterflies: Saturday 2 August. Transform leaves, flowers, and petals into stunning butterflies!
🌻 Summer Holiday Family Activities: join us for fun summer activities throughout the summer:
- Lavender cards – Wednesday 6 August, 1-4pm.
- Herb and Salad Planting – Wednesday 13 August, 10am-1pm.
- Flower Crowns – Tuesday 26 August, 10am-1pm.
For Adults:
🌺 Free Expert Led Tours: join a tour every Wednesday at 11.30am or every Sunday at either 11.30am or 2pm, as our expert guides lead visitors through the Garden’s seasonal highlights.
🌺 International Garden Photographer of the Year competition:
This free-to-enter photography competition themed ‘Around the World at CUBG’ is open to all adult visitors to the Garden and will run across the summer until 4 September.
🌺 Wild Garden Walks: explore the wildflowers of the Botanic Garden with our early morning guided walks, a special opportunity to experience the Garden before it opens to the public. Walks will be running 16 June, 21 July, 11 August and 15 September.
🌺 Adult Learning Courses: the Garden offers a wide range of workshops and courses, providing a perfect place to develop an understanding of plants, learn more about garden history or get creative.
🌺 Science on Sundays: come and discover the fascinating world of plant science in just 30 minutes! Science on Sundays is a free, informal and monthly series of talks, sharing the latest discoveries in plant science and research with our visitors.
🌺 Listening to the Night – Bat Walk and Poetry Performance: join us at the Botanic Garden for a unique evening combining science and poetry with Ecopoet Dr Briony Hughes.
