This year: how was it for you? Achieve all your goals? Tick all your boxes? Reach all your summits? No matter what your answer is, we’ll bet that this time next year you’ll be answering that question with “heck yes I did!”
To make sure you get the maximum amount of adventure from 2019, let us help you plot your next 12 months of outdoor action now. We’ve detailed 13 of the UK’s must-hit festivals, trail races, talks and more, so you can get prepared for an absolutely enormous year ahead…
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Living Dangerously
17 January – 30 July 2019
Hardcore outdoor enthusiasts and armchair adventurers alike are going to absolutely love this one. Dubbed the ‘world’s greatest living explorer’ Sir Ranulph Fiennes has pushed human capability to its limits everywhere from Everest to Oman, and has the scars and stories to prove it.
At this illustrated talker series, ‘Ran’ takes his audience on a personal journey through his childhood and early years, and reveals his most extreme experiences and record-breaking expeditions. If you’re lucky, he might just go into the details of how he amputated his own frost-bitten fingers with a saw. Nice.
faneproductions.com
Banff Film Festival World Tour
19 January – 24 May 2019
If you’re more Netflix and Thrill than Netflix and Chill, then get signed up to this, stat. The world’s most prestigious mountain film festival is hitting the road in the first half of 2019, and delivering an extraordinary, inspiring and adrenaline-soaked collection of short films from today’s finest adventurers to almost every corner of the UK. The full programme is announced in December, but we’ll bet the big bucks that it’ll be one-hundred percent worth leaving your sofa for.
banff-uk.com
Rab Climbing Works International Festival
2-3 March 2019
It’s no secret that bouldering has blown up in the past few years, with walls opening all over the place to meet the public’s demand for blistered fingers. But while indoor climbing comps aren’t exactly new news, this one in Sheffield stands out from the crowd: sponsored by Rab, it actively encourages spectators to compete alongside some of the world’s best, and for a chance to pocket a £2000 prize fund. Even if stage fright gets the better of you, you’ve still got a heck of a spectacle to enjoy.
climbingworks.com
Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF)
22-24 March 2019
Just a few weeks after hosting the CWIF, the ‘Outdoor City’ gets its second dose of March excitement when the big screens are fired up for Sheffield Adventure Film Festival.
More than 100 adventure, travel and extreme sports films have been hand-picked to tickle the adrenal glands, with a full programme of talks and exhibitions to dive into too – when you eventually release your fingernails from the cinema seat armrests, that is.
shaff.co.uk
Keswick Mountain Festival
16-19 May 2019
One to write in big capitals and circle in red ink, Keswick Mountain Festival is a big fat glistening jewel in the outdoor calendar crown with numerous epic cycling, climbing, swimming and trail-based opportunities to get involved in across the Lake District. A selection of events has already been announced for 2019, including the second KMF 3 Peaks Challenge, which will take you on an 18-mile hike with 1,000m of ascent over Catbells, Walla Crag and Latrigg, and back in time to unwind in front of live music (and make the most of the festival’s local beer sponsor).
keswickmountainfestival.co.uk
The OutdoorsMagic Trail Marathon, Half & 10k
4-5 May
Our very own Outdoors Magic Trail Race Series returns for its second year, this time moving to the deep woodland and heathland of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.
Part of the OMM Festival weekend, we’ll be putting on three all-terrain trail races with each one fully-waymarked and marshalled. At the end you’ll be cheered over the finish line by hundreds of spectators at the OMM basecamp where there’ll be a bar, food, talks and just all-round good vibes.
Isle of Arran Mountain Festival
17-20 May 2019
With its craggy mountains and weather-beaten coastline, the Isle of Arran’s landscape is a just reward for anyone who puts the effort into reaching this “Scotland in miniature”. And the annual May festival is the way for walkers and climbers to discover everything the island has to offer. The four-dayer caters for all abilities, with guides on hand to take adventurers on relaxed strolls, serious scrambling, and everything in-between. Check the full programme now and see what takes your fell-bagging fancy.
arranmountainfestival.co.uk
The Berghaus Dragon’s Back
20-24 May 2019
Five days, 315km, 15,500m of ascent – you don’t need to be a big-brained mathematician to add those numbers together and arrive at this being one of the planet’s toughest multi-day running races.
This now-legendary biennial punisher follows the trackless, mountainous and unforgiving spine of Wales from north to south, and is so popular amongst intrepid fell, mountains and ultra runners that places for 2019 have already sold out. Godspeed, brave athletes!
berghausdragonsbackrace.com
