A festival is set to shine a light on the many uses of seaweed.
The Halen Môn Seaweed Festival will take place on the Isle of Anglesey on May 23 and 24, celebrating seaweed’s role in the kitchen, garden, and beyond.
Hosted at the Anglesey Saltcote, the event includes workshops on foraging, fermentation, and even a talk on how Welsh seaweed research saved Japanese sushi.
Jess Lea-Wilson, brand director at Halen Môn, said: “We’re excited to be launching the new festival to shine a spotlight on one of Wales’ valuable, yet too often overlooked, natural resources.
“As a business which is deeply involved with the natural environment of our stunning coastline here on Anglesey, we’re looking forward to celebrating the beauty and versatility of Welsh seaweed – from the kitchen to the garden – and exploring the many potential uses it could have in helping us develop new sustainable solutions for the future.
“It’s a chance to learn about foraging and fermentation, get hands-on with some seaweed art and craft, and hear some surprising tales of Welsh seaweed changing the world.”
The festival will open on Saturday, May 23 with a seaweed foraging session led by Kirsti Davies from the Gwymona project, which promotes 101 uses of seaweed as solutions to contemporary challenges.
Participants will also have the chance to take part in a botanical pressing workshop using seaweed gathered during the session.
Later in the day, Anna Lloyd of BWBLIN will host a fermentation workshop, guiding attendees through the process of making a ‘sea salad’—a sauerkraut-style dish with seaweed.
On Sunday morning, May 24, Natalie Chivers-Cross will lead a session focused on seaweed in gardening and its use as a natural fertiliser.
She will demonstrate how to create a seaweed-based starter for fermenting fertilisers at home.
In the afternoon, Dr. Dani Robertson, an author and dark skies officer for Eryri National Park, will tell the story of Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker.
Dr. Drew-Baker’s research into seaweed growing, carried out on the coast of Anglesey and around Wales, was fundamental to the successful cultivation of nori in Japan.
For the impact of her work, Dr Drew-Baker is known in Japan as the ‘Mother of Seaweed Farming’ and celebrated with a monument and an annual festival in her honour.
Tickets for the Halen Môn Seaweed Festival are available via the Halen Môn website.
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