Lace up the boots for Annascaul Walking Festival

BEGINNERS or experienced walkers can avail of a deal if they join Annascaul Walking Club this month. The West Kerry club is offering a special discount to anyone who joins the club before the end of the month.

The end of this offer coincides with the annual Annascaul Walking Festival, a three-day event organised by the club which offers a range of walks to people of all levels of experience. “The club and the festival are going from strength to strength” said Annascaul Walking Club Chairman Mike Johnson. “We have just returned from a trip to Austria where we filled the Sonnenberg Hotel in Ehrwald.”

Asked about organising the festival he said: “We are fortunate as a lot of the 80 members of the club are very generous with their time”.

The festival will run from Friday, October 28 to Monday October 31. Describing the walks in the festival Mike said: “The Friday night walk is very popular free event, we notice more and more young people doing this walk every year. The walk takes about two hours and is easily achievable by most people.”

The highlight of the weekend, according to Mike, is the strenuous Faha to Baile Breac walk across Mount Brandon.

There are three types of walk on each day, rangin from easy to strenuous. Walkers should turn up 45 minutes before the start time to ensure they are registered; online registration is open now.

Further information on the club and the walking festival is available fromwww.annascaulwalks.org.