The Lakeland Festival of Light returns for the third year running
6pm, Saturday 5 May, Keswick (Rawnsley Centre)

The Lakeland Festival of Light is a charity evening to raise vital funds for the people of Nepal who were affected by the massive earthquake that rocked the country in 2015, killing over 9,000 people.
In previous years, the event has seen 150 people scale Blencathra under moonlight, 500 people line the spine of Catbells, and 650 people climb three of the Coledale fells above Braithwaite – and in the process they have raised over £30,000 for various charities that provide aid for the people of Nepal. The chosen charity this year will be Bristol-based Phase Worldwide, who run multiple projects all across Nepal. The overall event is again being sponsored by Little Chamonix Café.

The upcoming event will see a return to the popular peak of Catbells. Event organiser Matt Le Voi of Lakeland Mountain Guides hopes it will be the biggest yet.: “Catbells was so amazing back in 2016, but now we’ve learnt more and want to head back there and make an even more impressive spectacle!” He continued to say “Even if you can’t climb Catbells on the night I highly recommend you get yourself to a place where you can see it, it’s quite a thing to watch…”

The event team – which once again comprises the professional photographer trio Carmen Norman, Tom McNally and Nick Landells – will snap the procession as they line up on the spine of Catbells. The team are hoping to recreate the effect of Nepali prayer flags adorning the fells by handing out red, blue, green and yellow acetate to alter the colour of the torches.

© Carmen Norman Photography


The event starts at the Rawnsley Centre in Keswick at 6pm on Saturday 5 May. There will be a brief introduction and the opportunity to enter a raffle. The group will then walk from Keswick to Catbells via Portinscale, and line up along the spine of Catbells. As the whole path up of the mountain needs to be filled there is no pressure to make the summit, therefore making this event very family friendly. Once the pictures have been taken the group will descend and head back to Keswick, hopefully wrapping it all up by 11pm.
There is no formal registration process but there is a recommended donation of just £20pp in order to attend the event. This is simply paid on the night or via the following link: https://www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/lfol-2018
For more information please either type ‘The Lakeland Festival of Light 2018’ into Facebook or visit www.lakelandmountainguides.co.uk.
Header image © Tom McNally Photography