Every November, the Kendal Mountain Festival takes place in the small Cumbrian town on the edge of the Lake District. It’s a gathering of Outdoor sports enthusiasts from all over the country to join together and celebrate Mountain life, sports and culture and has grown bigger and bigger every year.
I’ve been coming to Kendal for many years to see inspiring films, listen to world class athletes talk about their latest travels or adventures, hear speakers from all walks of life who share my passion for life and sport in the mountains talk about their experiences, and to soak up the awesome festival vibe with good friends and reminisce on our own past, as well as plan future adventures.
Spot yours truly!
I was just a little bit excited (and completely terrifed) when Alex from FINDRA clothing asked if I would like to form one of the panel on stage at their Everyday Adventures talk at Kendal. What an honour.
Along with fellow FINDRA ambassadors Tom Hill, Jo Moseley, Graham Kelly and Katie Hall, we each described our background and what everyday, accessible adventures meant to us personally, and then the floor was opened up to the audience and MC Nigel Vardy to ask questions.
Whilst I’m not normally a shy person and love talking to anyone and everyone, being in front of a whole room full of people and talking into a microphone is somewhat daunting and I felt really nervous beforehand. Thankfully the atmosphere was relaxed and the session was really enjoyable once we got going. It definitely helped sharing the stage with others and was really interesting to hear everyone else’s stories and share different approaches to accessible adventures.
An amazing opportunity thanks to Kendal Mountain Festival and FINDRA clothing.
Journalist Katie Campbell Spyrka followed up the weekend with her “8 things we learned at the Kendal Mountain Festival” article on the Red Bull Website, and it was a lovely surprise to find myself featured! You can read it here:
https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/kendal-mountain-festival-things-we-learned