LOVE Ambleside’s Festival of the Fells takes place next month, following the success of its inaugural festival last September. It is designed to appeal to all those who love the Lakes, offering a wide range of outdoor activities and taster sessions with guided events ranging from an electric bike ride to wild swimming in daylight and at night.

The festival is organised by Ambleside Together, which was founded in 2016 after Storm Desmond.

The initial ideas was to promote Ambleside in the wake of the December 2015 floods, and since then the Love Ambleside branding campaign was launched on social media with a website and the distinctive LoveAmbleside logos, which is the public face of Ambleside, displayed by many businesses.

This year’s festival is sponsored by Heart of the Lakes, the Ambleside-based holiday cottage business, and will be bigger and better than the first festival in 2016, offering mountain, outdoor activity and a cultural festival designed to appeal to fell lovers of all levels with plenty of interest for people who just ‘Love Ambleside.’

It runs from Thursday, September 21 until Sunday, September 24, starting on Thursday evening at 7pm with a talk by Wendy Dodds, entitled Forty Years on the Fells, at the Golden Rule, and Soul and Funk with DJ Shark le Funk from 9pm at The Lily.

The new Triple Spine Lakeland Challenge starts on Friday, September 22, comprising a three-day charity walk over three Lakeland spines involving 66 miles, 17,300 feet of ascent and 33 Wainwright summits.

Day one is Ambleside-Threlkeld, The Hard Way. Day two’s Triple Spine walk is from Brocvum to Gala – A Roman Highway and day three goes from Ambleside to Keswick: the Bog Hop.

Also on the Friday is a guided walk on the Fairfield Horseshoe, part one of a Nordic walking course, several guided wild swims and wild swimming taster sessions; a guided Loughrigg walk, town centre history walks, and festival poet John Phoenix Hutchinson all day at the Market Cross.

There will be: Awesome Cycling Stories told by Pat Coldwell, a Workout Warriors FBX class, and talks by Alan Hinckes (K2) and Alan and Terry Abraham, Mark Hatton, and Ashley Cooper.

All events are to be confirmed, with mountain art exhibitions and live music.

On the Saturday, guided tours include Coniston Coppermine Valley, and guided walks over Scandale, Loughrigg Fell and round the town, plus part two of the Nordic walking course, an electric biking ride, a craft fair, live music, food market and earthworm kitchen; a dog walk, followed by a dog show and dog agility, a Kettlercise workout, films at Zeffs, and talks by Mark Richards, Simon Yates, Andy Beck, Craig Mathieson and Sarah Anderson.

Sunday offers guided walks over the Langdale Pikes, a trail race up Wansfell and back; abseiling, a car pull up Kirkstone, ghyll scrambling, a Rydal Ramble for wheelchair users riding in Freedom Wizard chairs, and a charity duck race.

The festival finale will be a comedy evening on Sunday, and the cost of all activities, their venues and times will all be appearing on the website which is www.festivalofthefells.uk.