This weekend, Phnom Penh-ers will have the chance to reconnect with nature and get to grips with environmental issues at a two-day green festival at Exchange Square.

Organised by The Idea with the help of Volunteer Nation, Baitong Festival aims to get Cambodia to fall back in love with the greenery that makes it gorgeous, finding smart, interesting and – dare we say it? – fun ways to stop doing the thinks that wreck the natural world.

What’s on Offer?

The festival is all about helping people find better ways to reduce waste and recycle, as well as providing tips and techniques for planting and maintaining city gardens. There are a broad bunch of workshops to get involved in too, ranging from growing medicinal herbs at home through to making your own flower pots and (for the kids) flower crowns.

There’s also a farmers’ market, a live painting session, and nibbles on offer from the Pelican Food Company and Farm to Table.

Submit Your Masterpiece (for Money)

If you have an innovative idea for turning your old rubbish into something beautiful, you could also win $350 by entering your trash-to-cash creation to the festival’s recycled art exhibition / competition.

If nothing else, it’s a rare chance to escape the city smog and smell the roses. Sounds pretty good to us!

Baitong Festival runs from 10am-8pm, Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th July @ Exchange Square (Hong Kong Land), St 102. Admission Free.