First wave of speakers announced!

After a sell-out first year that brought thousands of garden lovers to Somerset, the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival is back for 2026 - bursting with bright ideas, packed with colour and all in celebration of nature-first, organic gardening, without trowelling on the heavy stuff!

Set in the heart of the Yeo Valley Organic Garden in Blagdon, near Bristol, the three-day festival brings together expert gardeners to curious beginners (and everyone in between) for a joyful celebration of gardening that works with nature. From the depths of the soil to the tips of leaves and the buzz of bees, there’s something for everyone! Expect inspiring talks, practical tips, great food, live music and specialist garden related shopping to browse and buy. Visitors will head home with bootfuls of plants, and heads full of inspiration.

Following the success of the 2025 festival, plans are well underway for 2026, with a programme designed to spark curiosity, build confidence and explore how gardening, soil health and biodiversity are deeply connected to the future of the planet. Reflecting on the first event, Sarah Mead, owner and creator of Yeo Valley Organic Garden, says: “Last year was something else!! - the energy, the conversations, the laughter and the sheer love of gardening in all its forms. It felt like a real coming together of people who care deeply about growing with nature and those who also want gardening to feel generous, human and fun! We are absolutely thrilled to be doing it all again in 2026, with even more ideas and creativity to share. We want this festival to inspire everyone to get gardening!”

This year, the festival will be supporting the charity Garden Organic, whose work spans campaigning, advice, research and community projects to help gardeners grow in ways that support healthier soil, richer biodiversity and thriving, climate-resilient gardens.

“There’s something really powerful about people coming together around gardening. What’s so special about the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival is this shared curiosity for gardens - swapping ideas, learning from each other and finding simple ways to grow with nature in ways that feel fun, rewarding and realistic.” 
Fiona Taylor, Garden Organic

First speakers announced

Opening the festival in 2026 will be garden designers and broadcasters James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift, with a live recording of ‘The James and Joe Garden Show’ for their popular ‘Garden Collective’ podcast. James says: “Joe and I are absolutely delighted to be opening the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival with a live podcast. This new garden event is thoughtful, generous and refreshingly unpretentious. It takes gardening seriously…without taking itself too seriously, which suits us rather well! We can’t wait to see everyone in September for a healthy dollop of late summer fruitfulness.”

They will be joined by leading voices from across the gardening world, including BBC Gardeners’ World regulars Arit Anderson and Frances Tophill, and Somerset’s own flower farmer Georgie Newbery. Joining the 2026 Festival line-up in 2026 is rising star Errol Reuben Fernandes, Head of Horticulture at The Horniman Museum in London. Errol says: "Contemporary horticulture is all about treading as lightly as we can and seeing ourselves as part of the ecosystem. We can work with nature, learn from it, coexisting alongside the abundant life in our gardens and green spaces. We can create beautiful, biodiverse gardens using sustainable principles that are as elegant and attractive to us as they are to nature. I am looking forward to hearing from the other fantastic speakers at Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, as well as coming away with some fantastic ideas and maybe even a few plants too!"

Each day of the festival will explore a distinct theme:

Thursday – It’s a Gardening World

Climate-resilient gardening, soil health, biodiversity and ecology from the practical to the big picture.

Friday – Colour Confidence

A celebration of creativity, planting design and joyful use of colour, without losing sight of nature.

Saturday – Mission Possible

Looking ahead to developing future skills and how gardening can help us all to shape a hopeful, resilient world.

Further speakers, workshops and programme details will be announced over the coming months. Keep an eye out here and at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden socials for updates.