The Kendal Mountain Film Festival will climax this weekend with appearances from some of the biggest names in world climbing and mountaineering.

Organisers of the festival say it has been one of the busiest yet and are expecting huge attendances for a star-studded weekend.

One of the early pioneers of British rock climbing Joe Brown will be the subject of tonight's (Friday) DMM lecture at the Brewery Arts Centre.

As a young man, in the days before expensive technical climbing gear, Brown would travel from the streets of Manchester where he lived to climb the gritstone crags of the Peak District and use hollowed-out wheel nuts from lorries to wedge into cracks as protection from a fall.

Brown went on to become one of the world's foremost climbers and Ian McNaught-Davies will compere an evening of films, photos and tall tales to celebrate his remarkable career.

Highlights of tomorrow's programme of events include a talk by North Yorkshire's Alan Hinkes, who this year became the first British climber to scale all 14 of the world's 8,000m peaks, and a lecture from legendary climbers Doug Scott and George Band on their experiences on the first ascent of Himalayan peak Kanchenjunga in 1979.

The festival will close on Sunday with a Best of Kendal award ceremony hosted by Sir Chris Bonington.

Full programme details can be found at www.mountainfilm.co.uk