East Yorkshire Puffin Festival is back with a fun-packed weekend of family activities on the bill

A celebration of all things puffin is heading for its spectacular clifftop setting in East Yorkshire for a fifth year.

The chalk cliffs that stretch from Filey to Bridlington host one of the largest mainland puffin colonies in the UK and the Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve is one of the best places to spot them in puffin season – and one of the few locations where you can see them without taking a boat. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) is holding its fifth annual puffin festival at the reserve over the weekend of June 1 and 2, which will be packed with activities to celebrate and help protect one of the nation’s best-loved seabirds.

David Craven, east regional manager for YWT, said: “Watching puffins at Flamborough is one of the best wildlife watching spectacles in Yorkshire. They’re such characterful birds with their bright beaks and tuxedo-like markings, whizzing to and from the cliffs, and spotting them is an experience that delights so many people.

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“Unfortunately, puffins globally are in decline and although numbers in Yorkshire have remained reasonably steady at around 4,000, they are at risk from the effects of climate change on their main food source, sand eels. These wonderful birds need our help, through protection of their fishing grounds and food supply to their fragile marine habitat, so we’ll be helping people to find out take action over the weekend too.”

Among the festival activities will be puffin-watching, either from the sea on a boat trip or on foot from the North Landing clifftop; sunset wildlife walks, craftivism using marine litter collected from Yorkshire’s own beaches, storytelling sessions and more.

Children will be able to create a collage puffin, gannet or shag using recycled materials to hang in their window, have a go at a marine litter game and meet Cliff, the giant cuddly puffin mascot.

June is the perfect time to see puffins on the towering cliffs. They have returned after spending the winter at sea, found their lifelong mate and will stay for just a few weeks from late spring to raise their single puffling chick.

Yorkshire Puffin Festival is funded and supported by Yorkshire Coast BID. Some activities, including boat trips, require pre-booking, but there will be lots happening to drop in on or book on the day. Puffin HQ at North Landing will be the place to find out more, where parking and refreshments are also available.

Information is also available on YWT’s puffin festival web page packed with details about each event and activity, and how to book. If you cannot get to the coast for the Yorkshire Puffin Festival, there’s plenty to enjoy online where you can also become a Puffin Protector, download your free pack full of puffin facts, find activities to do at home, advice on where to see them, and more.