THE red carpet was rolled out for Kendal Mountain Festival as its world tour reached China.

Hosted in the Eastern town of Yongjia, near Wenzhou city, the event was the first in a planned series of tour dates across the vast country.

Huge Kendal banners were draped from buildings, posters and banners went up across the town, and dozens of organisers and staff wore special Kendal-branded T shirts.

The Kendal Mountain Festival World Tour takes the best films from each year’s event on tour to locations across UK and Europe, and now even further afield.

Representing Kendal Mountain Festival in China was Festival arts officer Henry Iddon, who gave a presentation to an audience of local dignitaries and sports representatives describing the event and its Lake District location.

Accompanying Henry was British climber Andy Parkin who was on hand to premiere his new film, and join with local climbers to sample the area’s climbing potential.

“Kendal Mountain Festival is really putting Kendal on the international map”, says director Clive Allen.

“In addition to the Chinese development, which potentially opens up a huge audience, plus the existing UK and European locations, we’re working on new tour venues in Dubai, Mexico, Kazakhstan and further afield.

“The great thing is that Kendal itself is at the core of all this promotional activity, which can only bring greater benefits to the town.”