|
Dartmoor Walking Festival started in 2016 in order to have an annual event celebrating walking on Dartmoor. Simon Dell has been running the festival since its inception and it has taken place annually since 2016 with the exception of 2020 (because of covid). The festival consists of a series of guided walks, run by individual guides all over Dartmoor in order to showcase some of the best areas Dartmoor has to offer.
Over the years, the festival has raised over £10,000 for its chosen charity, Devon Air Ambulance. In conjunction with handing over Moorland Guides to new director, Hannah Durdin, Simon also made the decision that 2024 would be his last year of running the festival. He passed it on to Hannah and local expedition leader, Richard Matthews. In 2025, Hannah and Richard rebranded the festival to become the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival and started the process of turning it into a larger event. |
|
On 29th August 2025, Dartmoor Outdoor Festival took place, a bigger and better version of the (already popular) Dartmoor Walking Festival. The programme consisting of over 75 events over 8 days included guided walks, workshops, mindfulness activities like yoga, breathwork and tai chi, evening events and adventurous activities such as climbing and gorge scrambling.
Attracting over 900 bookings and 400 people, the first year was a fantastic success and everyone involved is already excited about what the future holds for the festival! Hannah made the difficult decision to step back from the event, in order to concentrate her energies on Moorland Guides and her children, but Richard is continuing to run the event with the support of various organisations and providers, and we look forward to seeing the festival continue to grow and evolve over the years. |
|
