THIS year's Maindee Festival will be a little different, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forcing the organisers to move the popular annual community event online.

The group will host three hours of performance, poetry and music this Saturday, August 22, between 2pm and 5pm.

This year's theme is Petal Power, and coincides with the festival's seed-planting project this spring and summer in the Maindee area of Newport.

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"The festival committee has been trying to bring a smile to Maindee by giving out and planting sunflower seeds, which should be coming into flower later this month," the organisers said. "Look out for their beautiful blazes of cheerful yellow in the car park, outside the library, and dotted around front gardens."

From Saturday, members of the public will be encouraged to add to the theme by displaying their own floral creations, and the festival has been running a series of online arts and crafts workshops this week.

The last workshop takes place this afternoon afternoon – email festival@maindee.org for booking details.

"Covid-19 has sent many curveballs this year, not least for Maindee Festival Association," organiser Jo Sutton said. "Taking Maindee Festival 2020 online is something of an experiment for us."

"We have a range of artist makers hosting online workshops, sharing skills and expertise to create handcrafted blooms.

"We have been distributing sunflower seeds around Maindee since the start of lockdown, encouraging neighbours, businesses and community organisations to grow their own beautiful blooms.

"For the festival itself, which will take place on August 22, we have teamed up with Sofa Share Wales [who] will host and stream the event.

"There will be a Petal Power Trail across Maindee featuring large, sculptural flowers commissioned by local artists.

"We will greatly miss the opportunity for our community to come together for the festival this year and hope that the new normal will still allow for such gatherings in the not-too-distant future.

"Our ambition is to bring some cheer back to Maindee after the last few months of isolation and gloom."

For details on how to join this year's Maindee Festival online, contact Sofa Share Wales' Fez Miah by emailing fez.miah@gmail.com or calling/texting 07760 625117.