A SCOTTISH walking festival is preparing to welcome Ayrshire ramblers ahead of its reboot next month.
The Cowalfest walking festival, established prior to the Covid pandemic as one of Scotland’s biggest walking festivals, will take place from September 12 to 16 and feature a wide range of guided and special interest walks across the Cowal peninsula in Argyll.
It will make a welcome return following four years of cancellations by the pandemic and extreme weather in 2023.
The five-day festival includes 24 guided and special interest walks featuring the iconic Cobbler near Arrochar, an exploration of the area around Kilfinan Castle under the guidance of an expert from the Clan Macewan and an ascent up Cowal’s highest peak, Beinn Mhor.
In addition, there are a number of special interest walks across the peninsula covering nature, geology, local history, art and foraging supported by experts in their field.
The Dunoon Bothy Project will be delivering a free health walk and guided cycle ride on the first two days of the festival with Castle House Museum hosting two free events covering ‘Dunoon of 200 years ago’ and a ‘Suffragette history’ walk and talk.
Cowalfest chair Andy Armstrong said: “We always get lots of walkers taking part from ‘across the watter’ and it would be fantastic to welcome our rambling comrades from Helensburgh and Loch Lomond to support the event as we seek to re-establish Cowalfest in the calendar.
“We already have folk from across Scotland and the UK heading up to Cowal for the opportunity to learn about the diverse nature of our wonderful part of the world.
“The support of Wild About Argyll, Western Ferries, the National Lottery Community Fund and key partners such as the Dunoon Bothy Project and Castle House Museum has gone a long way to helping us get Cowalfest back on the map."
Bookings can be made on the site with visitors and walkers encouraged to secure their places as soon as they can.
A full list with details of all the walks and events, including a ceilidh at Innellan Hall on the evening of Saturday, September 14 with live music from Canned Haggis, can be viewed online at wildaboutargyll.co.uk/cowalfest.
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