About the Festival

Kendal to host its eighth walking festival in August 2025!

KWF 2025 will be our 8th Walking Festival and whilst some of our original organisers have handed over the reins, we are pleased to be partnering with Wellbeing Westmorland CIC to deliver a great programme of walks.

Wellbeing Westmorland are a local organisation with many years of experience in delivering outdoor activities and events.

The festival will, for 2025 at least, take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Don’t worry, our leaders will find quiet places to wander!

As the festival moves into this new phase, we have taken the decision to make a small charge for all the walks. These are all concessionary and subsidised charges and we think represent excellent value for money! The festival attracts a small amount of funding, but as with most festivals there are substantial costs involved and therefore it is reasonable to make these charges. 

Our walk leaders are a mixture of volunteers and professional leaders, as well as some representing  local organisations. They know our area inside out and LOVE sharing their knowledge with locals and visitors alike. Make sure you ask them lots of questions!!

Kendal makes a superb base for those who enjoy walking. Surrounded by beautiful scenery it offers a wide variety of walking experiences. It’s a 5-minute drive into the Lake District National Park and 20 minutes from the Yorkshire Dales. In addition we have Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty just a few miles south of town.

We really do have it all....mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys and the wide open vistas of Morecambe Bay!!

England’s largest and deepest lakes and its highest mountains are within easy reach. The scenic Cumbria Coastal Way and the Dales Way both pass close to Kendal.

It’s quick and easy to get here – we are close to the M6, most trains on the West Coast Mainline stop at Oxenholme Lake District and Manchester and Liverpool airports are about 1.5 hours away.

As Kendal was home to Britain’s most famous walk writer A Wainwright (AW), we are again featuring a number of walks which will give opportunities to bag a few of the 'Wainwrights'.

As an ‘appetiser’ you might like to search BBC Sounds and listen to Sue Lawley interviewing the man himself on Desert Island Discs many years ago. 

Desert Island Discs - Alfred Wainwright - BBC Sounds

Sue Lawley's castaway is writer Alfred Wainwright

Wainwrights are the 214 English peaks (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66). They all lie within the boundary of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, and all but one (Castle Crag) are over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height.

Our town also has a lot to offer in itself, whether you’re looking for culture, nature, social history, shopping, eating or drinking. With its bus and train links you don’t even need to use a car.

Our 8th Walking Festival offers an opportunity to explore this wonderful town, with its roots embedded so deeply in the peaceful landscapes that surround it. The festival has something for everyone regardless of his or her walking capabilities. And while you are here, why not stay on a few extra days and visit the nearby castles, gardens, or simply use one of the many published guide books to take a trip on your own around our beautiful part of Cumbria.