An annual festival celebrating Kendal is returning to its traditional May slot this year after battling through Covid restrictions.

The Kendal Walking Festival will begin on Friday, May 6, and run until Monday, May 9, and aims to promote Kendal's location as the perfect hub for the region's plethora of scenic walks.

Andy Blackman, former Mayor of Kendal, is co-ordinating the event in collaboration with a group of volunteers and Sandylands Residents Association.

Andy first conceived the festival 5 years ago, and explained his motivation for doing so:

"Basically, it was out of a desire to add to the festival nature of the town - I just felt that Kendal's a brilliant spot for walking locally, for accessing the lakes, for accessing the dales, it's in prime position.

"Rather than being a gateway, as people pass through gateways, it needs to be a hub where people stay and contribute to the economy of the town.

"I got together this group of guys who've all got this passion for walking and are similarly enthusiastic about Kendal and what it offers.

"We tried to make a range of walks from fairly easy and not too strenuous, to challenging walks in the Lake District.

"For this year, we've got a new event for the Saturday to support the mayor's charities, which is a walk around some of the great places within the boundary of Kendal, such as Serpentine Woods, Nobles Rest, Kendal Castle, a circular walk around the environs of Kendal.

"Every year is An Evening with Alfred Wainwright, where somebody from the Wainwright Society comes to talk about the great man himself on Friday night, with no booking required. 

"The Civic Society is doing a couple of walks on Saturday and Sunday, so that supports them as they gather donations.

"It's not just about the festival itself, but it about getting organisations within the town to link into it and be part of it.

"We're not a constituted body, the volunteers are all of an age where they don't want to be sat around tables having meetings, they want to be on the fells!

"I'm 73, we have a guy who's 79, another who's 89 - we're all fit, but obviously there's a longevity issue with that, so we're looking for people to carry the baton on in the future.

To book a walk or for more information, visit www.kendalwalkingfestival.co.uk/

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