Bollington Walking Festival

For nine days this September, the small mill town of Bollington becomes the best place in Cheshire to put one foot in front of the other.

The 16th Bollington Walking Festival runs from Saturday 5 to Sunday 13 September 2026, opening with a launch walk and pub visit on the Friday evening. The programme is built around the idea that everyone should find something that fits: walks are graded Easy, Moderate, Energetic and Strenuous, and range from a half-mile Bear Hunt for small legs to a fifteen-mile haul up to the highest point in Cheshire.

Highlights include the White Nancy Early Bird Challenge, a 7am climb to Bollington's landmark folly, repeated every single day of the festival and finishing with a breakfast and prize-giving on the Sunday; a night walk into Thursbitch; the Three Shires route from the Cat & Fiddle; a wander around Lyme Park; and a brewery walk that ends exactly where you'd hope.

There's more to it than mileage. The festival runs a dementia-friendly walk, a sensory walk with East Cheshire Eye Society, an ME/CFS-friendly route, Monday morning meditation, a free talk from a mountain rescue volunteer, and an outdoor screening of Wild.

Most walks are free to join; a handful are ticketed between £3 and £20 and do sell out. Leaflets are available from the Bridgend Centre and venues across the area, or download the programme from the festival website.

Full programme, walk gradings and booking: bollingtonwalkingfestival.co.uk