This weekend, "48h" to convince city dwellers to put their hands in the dirt

From street greening operations to workshops "seed bombs", this 5th edition of "great urban gardening festival" - initially planned for April but postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic - will result in some 200 events in ten cities.

A reduced format compared to last year because "we didn't know that it was possible to organize the festival until the beginning of the month" and health restrictions limit the number of participants, says Sophie Boisselier, from the Sauge association which created and coordinates the event.

She hopes to attract city-dwellers in search of greenery since the confinement, which could act as a revealer of the ultra-dependence of cities as regards their supply of agricultural products and renew interest in short circuits.

"People are starting to realize that there is an agricultural and food issue in France, that the food independence of the territory is a security issue", says Sophie Boisselier.

The festival intends to highlight the responses provided by urban agriculture in full "effervescence", show that"there are initiatives that are organized every day to revegetate the city, reconnect to its food, forge links around the practice of gardening".

The 48-hour program in the cities concerned - Paris / Ile-de-France, Albi, Avignon, Grenoble, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Saint-Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tournai (Belgium) - is available on the site www.les48h.fr.