Panda Meander sculpture trail

Panda Meander arrives in Cambridge on 20 March 2027, and it's a big one: 30 to 40 giant panda sculptures scattered across the city's parks and landmarks until 29 May. If you've lived here a while, the format will be familiar. It's the third sculpture trail to come to town, following Cows about Cambridge and Cambridge Standing Tall, and it's the first time Wild in Art has brought a panda trail to a town or city. The producer has put out more than 13,000 sculptures across 200 art events, raising over £13 million for charity along the way.

This one is brought to the city by Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT), the only registered charity dedicated to supporting innovation in patient care across Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals. Cheffins is the lead trail partner, and the Cambridge Independent is the media partner. The money raised goes to children's services at Addenbrooke's and the Rosie, and to the new Cambridge Children's Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. That hospital is billed as the first specialist children's hospital in the East of England, and the first in the world to fully integrate the mental and physical health of young patients.

It's a family-friendly thing, so it's easy to do with kids in tow. The pandas will be out across the city from 20 March to 29 May 2027, and the trail is open to all and completely free. Once the trail finishes, the pandas don't just vanish — Cheffins will auction them off in June 2027, with the proceeds going back into those children's services.