A colourful new event will celebrate an old custom and the arrival of spring on Mother’s Day weekend.

The Ivybridge Chamber of Commerce is organising a Primrose Festival, which harks back to the tradition of primrose picking at Stowford paper mill in the last century.

The festival is taking place on Saturday, March 25 from 10am to 4pm around the town centre.

The Ivybridge Heritage group will have a fascinating display of memorabilia from the primrose era, when flowers were picked, packed and sent off to customers of mill owners Wiggins Teape by townsfolk.

The group, which has done extensive research into the mill’s history and other aspects of the town’s past, describes the practice on its website: "The tradition of sending primroses to Wiggins Teape customers started before the first world war.

"The managing director of the Hele Paper Co near Exeter, not then a member of the WT Group, had a custom of picking a few early primroses to send to his mother.

"This caught on and was adopted by the company, and continued when in 1919 Hele Mill was bought by Wiggins Teape.

"By the 1960s primrose distribution was handled by Stowford Paper Mill, with thousands of boxes of primroses sent all over the country. Two bunches of 50 primroses, each with five leaves, were packed in plastic lined boxes at the Congregation Church Hall in Ivybridge, ready for distribution to all Wiggins Teape clients.

"Work started between 8am and 8.30am with the arrival of the flowers, mainly picked by school children who were paid around five pence a bunch in later years. Volunteers then packed the flowers and labelled the boxes with pre-printed labels from Wiggins Teape. Each member of staff at the mill was permitted to send boxes of primroses to family and friends.

"Each year a different insert card and label were designed to go with the flowers. These were often very colourful and were treasured by recipients, eventually becoming collectors’ items."

Festival organisers and the heritage group said they would love to see any pictures of the primrose pickers and packers people may have collected over the years. Two of the original pickers will be at the official opening of the event, in Glanvilles Mill at 10am.

As the festival is taking place on the Saturday before Mothering Sunday, some primrose plants will be available for children to give to their mums. Cards will be included, with pictures of primroses drawn by local youngsters.

The same day will also see the Ivybridge RUM - Really Useful Market - in aid of Ivybridge Food Bank. Donations of new or nearly new items are requested, which can be dropped off at Footnote Shoe Shop, Glanvilles Mill ahead of time.

Adding to the festival atmosphere throughout will be the popular Queens Dock ukulele band, playing in Glanvilles Mill. The Girl Guides will be making badges and helping run the event, and great raffle prizes have been donated by local groups.