The Spirit of Speyside Walking Festival (26 - 30 August) features a packed programme of walks for all abilities, from the enthusiastic well-equipped walker who will relish a challenge, to the gentle rambler who will enjoy a pleasant guided walk around scenic surroundings in and around Moray and Speyside.
The Walking Festival is expected to attract walkers from across the UK as well as the North East and offers a tremendous variety of scenery and walks to match. The programme includes 20 free-guided walks for all levels and on all terrains - up mountains, down glens, in town centres and forests and along the coast.
This year the Festival includes a range of new walks including the Seaside Safari - visitors can catch a glimpse of a graceful deer, or red squirrel, see dolphins at play, seals sunbathing or bobbing in the water and ospreys diving for fish. Other walks reveal unusual secrets - such as the Smugglers' Walk on the Glenlivet Estate where the area's 'spiritual' heritage will be explored; or there's the Dinosaur Walk along the coast from Lossiemouth to Hopeman. The leisurely urban strolls in Forres, Dufftown and Keith are another option - a chance to learn some hidden stories of Moray's Towns.
Individual walks are accompanied by professional guides and local enthusiasts and the walks range from two to around six hours. But there is one walk to rule them all, from 26 August until August 30, there will be a chance for the more serious walker to join the Speyside Way Rangers in walking any (or all) of the stages from the Cairngorms to the coast.
Wendy Clements, of the Moray Tourism Forum, says "The Walking Festival provides lots of opportunities to meet new friends, learn more about the countryside and flora and fauna and is also a great way to introduce the kids to walking as the festival has family walks designed for children. If you are new to country walking, unsure about where to go, or need an incentive to get your boots on, then the Spirit of Speyside Walking Festival might be the answer".
