Did you know Yorkshire is one of the only places in the country where you can see puffins without a boat?

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s annual festival on 6th and 7th June celebrates the return of this much-loved but threatened seabird to their internationally important breeding grounds at Flamborough cliffs.

This is the eighth year that the Trust has run the Yorkshire Puffin Festival, with an expanded events programme that offers more to enjoy than ever before. The Festival is generously supported by players of the Postcode Lottery, and Wykeland.

The festival weekend will include:
Clifftop guided walks to see the puffin colony and other seabirds, accompanied by an expert member of staff;
Guided walks at dawn and dusk, the perfect time to listen to the cacophonous dawn chorus and hopefully spot the reserve’s resident barn owls;
Boat trips by traditional fishing coble to discover the rugged coastline and watch our seabirds from a different angle;
Yarn on, a talk by Propagansey about the history and craftmanship that went into creating traditional fisherman’s ganseys;
Pub painting sessions at Flamborough village hall with Pub Painting UK;
Photography sessions with Sean Jones Photography – if you’ve ever wanted to get good photos of our cliff-dwelling puffins and other seabirds, now is your chance!
A puffin-themed collage poetry workshop with poet Becca Drake, and a chance to submit to the Trust’s 80th anniversary poetry competition;
A Puffin Creation Station with Thread and Press, making wildlife collage finger puppets and recording your own video;
Storytelling with Mud Pie Arts about Perry the puffin and his friends;
Meeting Cliff – our giant cuddly puffin mascot! Why not give his seabird challenge a go – can you spit like a fulmar?
To celebrate the return of Yorkshire Puffin Festival, we’ve also teamed up with Spirit of Yorkshire, creators of Yorkshire’s first single malt whisky, to offer one lucky winner an exclusive, behind-the-scenes distillery tour. Find out more about the competition on our webpage.

Booking is essential for some festival activities including boat trips, which are also tide dependant. There is a charge for some activities while others are drop-in or book and join in on the day. Visit Puffin HQ on arrival at North Landing to find out more, where parking and refreshments are also available.

The cliffs from Filey to Bridlington are home to the largest mainland seabird breeding colony in the UK, including 3,000 puffins. June is the perfect time to see puffins on the cliffs, accessible just a short walk along a clifftop path from North Landing. They’ve returned after spending the winter at sea, found their lifelong mate and stay for just a few weeks from late spring to raise their puffling (a baby puffin).

I look forward to the return of our puffins every year; they’re so characterful and brightly-coloured that they really look like they ought to live somewhere much warmer and more tropical. They’re endlessly fascinating to watch as they whiz to and from the cliffs.

We know that wildlife watching experiences mean the world to people and we love any opportunity to make these as accessible as possible. We’re here to help our visitors spot the puffins and other birds on and around the cliffs, and we are usually lucky enough to spot whales or dolphins too.

Sadly, these stunning birds are threatened and at risk and losing them from Yorkshire is unthinkable. As the North Sea warms, our puffins are having to travel further and further to find sand eels – their main food source, which is only found in cooler water. Although the colony at Flamborough is holding steady at the moment, it is only a matter of time if things don’t change before we start to see our puffins struggling.

These wonderful birds need our help, through protection of their fishing grounds and food supply to their fragile marine habitat, so we invite everyone who cares to take action for marine wildlife.

Become a Puffin Protector at ywt.org.uk/puffin-fest with a free pack full of puffin facts, activities to do at home, advice on where to see them, puffin-themed gifts and competitions, and actions to protect puffins.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust work as part of the North Seas Wildlife Trusts to campaign for greater protection at sea; from working with fishermen and other maritime organisations to reduce plastic pollution on land, to advocating at a regional and national level for better and more Marine Protected Areas to create a space for wildlife to flourish out at sea.

Information is also available on Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s puffin festival webpage https://www.ywt.org.uk/yorkshire-puffin-festival/plan-your-adventure packed with information about each event and activity, and details for booking.