Local art organisations are bringing communities from across the Forest together by encouraging people of all ages to share their recipes and “food stories”. Artspace Cinderford is hosting a range of free, artist-led activities for groups across the local area as part of this year's Wye Valley River Festival, the theme for which is 'The Earth Beneath Our Feet’. The first of these sessions took place last week in Bream, with local writer Fiona Harding working with older people with dementia and their carers to develop food stories and recipes from long ago. The stories that emerged from this session will go on to inspire more food-based art from other groups over the next few months, supported by local artists including Warren Day, Lizzie Godden, Rebecca MacKay and Aileen Wright. Other groups getting involved with the Artspace programme include Forest View Primary School in Cinderford and Hazelhurst Nursing Home near Ross-on-Wye, in addition to a public event being held in the centre of Cinderford on Easter Saturday in collaboration with Wyldwood Arts. All of these groups will be contributing food-inspired art into the upcoming Wye Valley River Festival which runs from the 3rd-12th May. Rachel Buchanan, the Wye Valley River Festival Company Manager said, "These food story activities, in partnership with Artspace Cinderford and Wyldwood Arts, not only help us to think about our connections to land and nature, but also to ourselves and each other, our culture, history, family and networks. This year's festival will feature feasting, music, forest walks and tea-ceremonies, and we can't wait to see what our participants across the Wye Valley bring to the table."