Kendal Mountain Festival
The Kendal Mountain Festival is an annual event held in November in Kendal, Cumbria, on the edge of the English Lake District in the UK. It celebrates outdoor and adventure culture with a diverse program of films, talks, workshops, and other events.
The festival has grown to become a significant event in the outdoor community, attracting filmmakers, athletes, writers, and enthusiasts from around the world.
The current festival patrons include Sir Chris Bonnington, Leo Houlding, Keme Nzerem, Louise Minchin, Graham Zimmerman, Shauna Coxsey, as well as patron of the Kendal Mountain Book Festival, Robert Macfarlane.[1]
The Directors of the Festival are Steve Scott and Clive Allen. Jacqui Scott is the CEO.
Description
[edit]Kendal Mountain Festival features approximately 300 events over four days, encompassing a wide range of activities. The film program showcases over 150 international adventure films, while the speaker events feature prominent figures in the world of outdoor adventure, such as mountaineers, explorers, and athletes, discussing their experiences and achievements.
The festival also includes the Basecamp Village, a central hub with exhibitors from outdoor brands and community groups, and multiple stages for talks, demonstrations, and live music performances.
The Kendal Mountain Book Festival is an integral part of the festival, celebrating mountain literature and nature writing that explores the themes of adventure, landscape, environment, and the sense of place. It runs concurrently with the film festival, featuring speakers, discussions, and events focused on literary works.
A key element of the Book Festival is the presentation of the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature [2] a prestigious annual award that recognises outstanding contributions to the genre. The prize commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, renowned British mountaineers who were lost on Kangchenjunga in 1982. Winning this award is a significant achievement for authors in this field, and it brings considerable recognition within the mountaineering and literary communities.
The festival invests in its community outreach and schools programme, such as "Kendal for Schools" programmes and free family adventure programme.
Kendal Mountain Player
[edit]Launched in 2020, the Kendal Mountain Player is an online platform offering a curated selection of films from the festival.
Kendal Mountain Tour
[edit]The Kendal Mountain Tour travels to venues across the UK each year between February and May.
Film Awards
[edit]The heart of the programme is the International Film Competition, where over 150 films are screened (from over 500 international entries). The competition includes thirteen categories, recognising excellence in genres such as culture, environment, action sports, exploration and short-form documentaries. The Grand Prize is the festival's highest honor, awarded to the film that best exemplifies the spirit of adventure and filmmaking artistry.
The competition includes thirteen categories, recognizing excellence in genres such as culture, environment, action sports, exploration, and short-form documentaries. The Grand Prize is the festival's highest honor, awarded to the film that best exemplifies the spirit of adventure and filmmaking artistry.
| YEAR | FILM | DIRECTOR |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Free Solo | Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin |
| 2019 | Climbing Blind | Alistair Lee |
| 2020 | Into the Storm (En la Tomenta) | Adam Brown |
| 2021 | Torn | Max Lowe |
| 2022 | The Hermit of Treig | Lizzie MacKenzie |
| 2023 | If The Streets Were On Fire | Alice Russell |
| 2024 | Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa | Lucy Walker |
| YEAR | FILM | DIRECTOR |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | A Woman's Place | Menna Wakeford |
| 2022 | The Last Forgotten Art | Jessie Leong |
| 2023 | The Eagle With The Sunlit Eye | Ted Simpson |
| 2024 | King of the Fells | Seth Whitfield |
References
[edit]- ^ "Literature | Highlights". Kendal Mountain Festival. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ About — The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature