BBC Breakfast TV presenter and avid beekeeper Bill Turnbull will be visiting Monmouth next month to officially open the new Bees For Development premises in Agincourt Street.

He will cut a ribbon to officially open the new shop before giving a talk about his hobby as a beekeeper.

As a patron of the Bees For Development Trust and bee ambassador, he will also be signing copies of his first book, The Bad Beekeepers Club.

The opening of the shop on July 14 marks the start of Monmouth's first Bee Festival. The event, which runs from noon to 4pm takes place in the community room in the Shire Hall and under the loggia, alongside the usual Saturday market.

The festival celebrates all things bee and honey related, and will include honey tasting, exhibits by bee keepers and environmental organisations. For children there is face painting and the PifPaf street theatre show, The Bee Cart – which is sponsored by the Co-operatives Plan Bee campaign.

For those interested in finding out more about bees and beekeeping, there will be a talk by Brigit Strawbridge, a bee expert and participant in TV show It's Not Easy Being Green. Dr Nicola Bradbear will also give a talk about the work of Bees for Development – the charity she founded – which assists beekeepers living in poor and remote areas of the world to lift them out of poverty through beekeeping.

The talks take place in the Shire Hall and tickets are £5 (children £2.50), available from the Bees For Development shop.

•The festival also sees the launch of The Green Book of Gardening in Monmouthshire 2013, which will focus on a year-long grow-your-own themed garden festival next year, and which the organisers hope will encourage owners of gardens, allotments, orchards, vineyards, farms and wildlife gardens to showcase their achievements.

A special stall at the festival will offer application forms for those interested in appearing in the Green Book. Once the book has been compiled, with entries collected at the bee festival and other events around the county – including Chepstow, Monmouthshire and Usk agricultural shows – it will be launched at an event in September.