Beneath The Trees ‘Beneath The Trees’ was a free urban village fête held in Naul’s Mill Park, Coventry city centre, bringing together music, food, dance, performance and storytelling to create a shared space for community connection and engagement with nature. The event invited people to slow down, gather and spend time together outdoors, encouraging reflection on the natural environment beneath their feet. Audiences moved through the park’s rose garden, engaged with the spoken word tree and spent time alongside the River Sherbourne, encountering work by local artists and contributors. The programme was anchored by a thought provoking natural sculpture by Alfie Bradley, creator of Knife Angel. As part of the event, I began a large scale repurposed textile banner depicting a phoenix, a long standing symbol of Coventry. The work was developed as a live, participatory piece, with passers by invited to join me in adding recycled denim feathers to the wings, referencing Coventry Blue and the city’s industrial and cultural heritage. The collaborative making activity complemented the presence of local eco focused organisations, reinforcing shared themes of regeneration, reuse and collective care. Beneath The Trees was commissioned as part of the #GreenFutures programme, supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and the #LoveCoventry programme.