Walking festivals
Celebrate hiking, plodding, rambling and ambling with a walking festival this year.
WHAT DO BEER, books, music and comedy all have in common? Answer: festivals. If enough people are passionate about something, you can bet your boots they will come together to share and celebrate it. Walking is no different. Centred in towns or ranging across hill ranges, national parks and entire counties, walking festivals bang the drum for getting around and exploring the world on foot.
Pandemic restrictions saw most events cancelled, pared back or postponed in 2020, with many making cautious returns last year. Kicking off this spring and running through to autumn, the 2022 festival season is looking hopeful.
With something for all abilities, walking festivals typically offer a varied programme of guided rambles and convivial evening events. And they don’t all take place out in the shires. There are buzzing urban festivals in Bristol and Greater Manchester (both throughout May this year).
Festival programmes usually include a number of themed walks and workshops, covering everything from music and wildlife to local history and pubs. Expect expert-led strolls and challenge walks with professional guides as well. Want map reading tuition or kit advice? Some festivals provide that too. There’s even a festival in Yorkshire combining walking and wordsmithery: the Richmond Walking & Book Festival (September 17 - 25).
Some festivals are entirely free and run by volunteers. Others charge a fee per walk. With group numbers often limited, walks usually have to be booked in advance.
Many host towns and villages are part of the ‘Walkers are Welcome’ initiative, which promotes events at walkersarewelcome.org.uk/festivals
Here’s Country Walking’s handpicked round-up of festivals taking place in next few months:
APRIL 20 - 24
Chepstow Walking Festival, Monmouthshire
See the Severn Estuary and Wye Valley in their springtime finery. Over five days, 34 varied walks explore the history and nature of these beautiful borderlands. There’s also ‘Offa’s Twisted Wye Kanter’ organised by the Long Distance Walkers Association: fully supported but self-guided hikes from 12 to 25 miles. walksinchepstow.co.uk
APRIL 23 - MAY 2
Haltwhistle Walking Festival, Northumberland
With Hadrian’s Wall turning 1900 this year, the town that claims to be the heart of Britain is celebrating the World Heritage Site on its doorstep; 11 walks will feature this Roman frontier. Ranging across Northumberland National Park and the North Pennines AONB, the festival also promises a singing walk and a social evening. haltwhistlewalkingfestival.org
MAY 6 - 9
Kendal Walking Festival, Cumbria
Gateway to the Lake District, Kendal is hosting its fifth walking festival this spring. Events in town will complement guided rambles in the fells and on the Cumbrian coast. Highlights this year include ‘An evening with Alfred Wainwright’ – a tribute to the adopted Kendalian and celebrated author of Pictorial Guides. kendalwalkingfestival.co.uk
MAY 7 - 15
Isle of Wight Walking Festival, Isle of Wight
This hugely popular festival returns with over 100 walks over nine days.
The programme includes ‘Walk the Wight’: a day of sponsored walks supporting the local Mountbatten Hospice. The longest option is a 26½-mile hike from one side of the island to the other. An autumn festival is planned for October. isleofwightwalkingfestival.co.uk
MAY 14 - 29
Suffolk Walking Festival, Suffolk
Two weeks of walking across the painterly county of rippling fields and pink houses begin in Clare Castle Country Park this year. Over 70 walks will visit every part, from Constable Country down in Dedham Vale to the Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, not forgetting Suffolk’s timber-framed hinterland. suffolkwalkingfestival.co.uk
MAY 20 - 22
Winchcombe Cotswolds Walking Festival, Gloucestershire
A ‘Walkers are Welcome’ town, Winchcombe nestles at the foot of the Cotswold Edge. But there’s more to its annual festival than bosky hillsides and honeyed-stone hamlets. There will be a ‘juicy’ walk to fruit farm, a nostalgic steam train ramble and a closer look at the rock beneath your feet. winchcombewelcomes walkers.com
MAY 21 - 27
Ballater Walking Festival, Aberdeenshire
Forage for ‘edibles and medicinals’ in Caledonian pinewoods one day; climb Britain’s second-highest mountain the next. These are just two in a medley of 21 walks showing off Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms National Park. With three categories of walk each day, graded ‘easy’ to ‘strong’, they’re all led by local guides and expert rangers. walkballater.com
MAY 28 - JUNE 5
Malvern Hills Walking Festival, Worcestershire/ Herefordshire
The buxom whaleback hills of the West Midlands are crawling with paths. This 9-day festival must surely tread them all, with walks musical, historical and further afield too. Walkers with exceptional stamina can opt to hike the entire range from end to end (and back) and all 31 miles of the Worcestershire Way in a day. malvernwalking.uk