British brand Berghaus will be celebrating its 50th birthday this year with some special events at Keswick Mountain Festival
Berghaus has announced it will be bringing some of its own entertainment to the Keswick Mountain Festival, adding to the big bill of sports events, live music and speakers already set for the event on 19-22 May.
Steve Birkinshaw
Based at the Berghaus Adventure Hub in the Festival Village, the brand will showcase products from its archives, introduce some of its sponsored athletes to visitors, and host a special birthday party on Saturday 21 May.
The festival on the very edge of Derwent Water has grown into one of the most popular outdoor events in the UK, with over 17,000 visitors last year. Set to perform this time round are Toploader and Scouting for Girls, while folk act Peatbog Faeries will be taking to the stage for a second year running. Each day, alongside the music there’ll also be trail running, open water swimming, mountain biking, a cycling sportive, a triathlon and plenty of guided walks taking in fells around the National Park.
On Friday 20 May, Berghaus has lined up two ultra-runners to speak in the Adventure Talks Tipi in the Festival Village. Local fell running legend Steve Birkinshaw will appear at 1:00pm. Birkinshaw holds the record for running to the top of all 214 Wainwright peaks and is a former winner of the Dragon’s Back Race. At 3:45pm, Dave Troman will share his experiences of completing the iconic Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc race and offer some tips on the basics of ultra-running.
The running theme will continue on Saturday 21 May, when festival goers can sign up for one of three 5km runs with Steve Birkinshaw. Back in the Adventure Talks Tipi at 2:15pm, brothers Ed and Sam Hamer will talk about their ‘Great British Climb Off’ adventure during the summer of 2015.
Berghaus athlete Mick Fowler will headline the ‘Mountain Evening’ in the Theatre by the Lake on the Saturday. Last year, Fowler and climbing partner Paul Ramsden made a spectacular first ascent of remote Himalayan peak Gave Ding, which has earned them Piolets d’Or awards for an unprecedented third time. Fowler will tell the story of the Gave Ding expedition, which took him and Ramsden to a valley that had never before been visited by westerners.
The Saturday evening will conclude with Berghaus’ 50th birthday party in the Adventure Hub. Festival ticket holders who stay on site for the live music will be able to meet athletes, enjoy a drink on the company and celebrate five decades of Berghaus adventures surrounded by the landscape where many of those have taken place.
Tickets for all 2016 Keswick Mountain Festival events are available at www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk or by calling See Tickets on 0871 2305537 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras).
