Isle of Wight Walking Festival to return with old favourites and new additions

The festival, between October 7-15, is a popular event with visitors and locals alike, making the most of the opportunity to enjoy the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that encompasses the entire island.

The majority of walks are led by local volunteers, keen to share their knowledge of a subject, or to just ‘show-off’ their favourite walk – and with limited spaces, booking is recommended.

New for this year’s festival is a fundraiser for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

The 5k Dash in the Dark aims to bring together festival attendees and supporters of the HIOWAA to raise funds for a charity with running costs of £15 000 per day.

Nicole Davies, Events Fundraiser at HIOWAA, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the support from everyone associated to the Walking Festival, with every penny raised helping us to save lives 365 days a year.”

Also new this year is a unique opportunity to discover the history of Northwood House, its 23-acre estate and the Ward family’s part in the development of Cowes, followed by an access all areas House tour with included tea and coffee.

The £10 fee goes towards the charity Friends of Northwood House, who help keep the historic building open to the public.

Tim Wanders, an author, historian and walk leader, said: “The Isle of Wight has a truly amazing history, from Romans to radar stations, dinosaurs to great country mansions.

"The walking festival gives all the walk leaders a great opportunity to take tourists and islanders alike on new adventures, off the beaten track, and show them pieces of our incredible heritage and tell stories of ages past.

"We’ll show that there is much more to see and do here than festivals and yacht racing!”

A series of ladies-only walks first held during the Spring Walking Festival in May has returned due to popular demand, including a walk over the route of the Isle of Wight half-marathon held in the west of the Island.

There’s three new walks focusing on the environment, and the opportunity to join the growing trend of litter-picking walks.

Local litter picking heroes Vectis Wombles will host a walk in Newport, and there’s a litter pick in Sandown with the Sandown Green Town Volunteers, who were featured in a Channel 5 documentary earlier this year. They were recent winners of the Pride of Place Award in the annual Wight in Bloom awards.

The longest walk during this year’s Autumn event is the Goatober Walk, an 18-mile circular walk from Kingston Smallholding Goat Farm, taking in a lunch stop and on completion of the walk a tour of the farm and free goat hot dogs.

Amy Summers, from Visit Isle of Wight, enthused: “It’s great that we have been able to launch the Autumn Walking Festival with a range of exciting new walks, alongside some firm favourites with walkers.

“The walking festival is led by a group of dedicated, passionate volunteer walk leaders and my continued thanks to them for making the festival an award-winning event.”