RESDIENTS of the Forest of Dean are being encouraged to help celebrate the area’s unique customs and skills by contributing to the UK’s new Living Heritage Inventory.

The initiative is part of the UK’s commitment to the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The aim is to recognise and preserve traditions, celebrations, and skills that communities continue to practise and pass down through generations. Forest of Dean District Council is now asking locals to suggest traditions they feel deserve wider recognition.

Submissions can cover seven categories: oral expressions, performing arts, social practices, nature and land-based activities, crafts, sport and games, and culinary practices.

Several local traditions are already included, such as freemining, May Day celebrations on May Hill, charcoal burning using earth clamps, clog dancing, Warren James Day, brass bands, poetry and performance in the Varest dialect, and local archaeology.

Council representatives say the Living Heritage Inventory is an opportunity to highlight the Forest’s vibrant cultural identity and ensure it is celebrated nationally.

They said: “The Forest of Dean has a rich tapestry of customs that are still alive today,” a council spokesperson said. “This is your chance to make sure they are recognised and preserved for future generations.”

Residents can submit a quick expression of interest in under 50 words. If the idea is accepted, they will be invited to provide more detail about the tradition or practice. Examples from across the UK include bell-ringing, boat-building, cèilidh dancing, carnival celebrations, Highland games, Lambeg drumming, longsword dancing, dry-stone walling, and wassailing.

The scheme is designed to showcase the diversity of living heritage, highlighting both communal celebrations and specialist skills.

The council hopes the initiative will inspire locals to take pride in the Forest’s living heritage and encourages anyone with ideas to submit them via the Living Heritage Inventory website