Walking Post podcast 15: Moray Walking & Outdoor Festival and Castlebar International 4 Days' Walks

This week we have conversations about the Moray Walking & Outdoor Festival in Scotland, and the Castlebar International 4 Days' Walks in Ireland.Interview times:06:12 Castlebar International 4Days’ Walks 18:32 Moray Walking & Outdoor FestivalMoray Walking & Outdoor FestivalThe Moray Walking & Outdoor Festival takes place from June 13th to 23rd. The cost of each walk varies, but details on each individual walk can be found on the website.The festival, with more than 35 events, kicks off with the five-mile walk Hidden Tales and Trails of Glenlivet. There are history walks, a coastal foraging walk, and even Forest Bathing – Mindfulness in Nature Walk.Local storyteller and percussionist, Carol Scorer, offers Jack and the Dancing Trees and Dragon Story Walk, a half-mile aimed at children from 6 to 8.Picts to Ports to Prime Ministers starts in Lossiemouth, there is a fossil dunes walk, and a Botanical Linocut Workshop. There is also a train journey from Dufftown to Drummuir with a scenic walk back to Dufftown.Covering the entire council area of Moray, the popular festival has no real headquarters because of the walks starting in so many different places.Diane Smith tells us more about the festival.Castlebar International 4 Days' WalksThe oldest walking festival in Ireland takes place each year in the town of Castlebar in County Mayo in the west of the country.It started in 1967, starting with a group of ramblers with a keen interest in walking, taking its inspiration from a four-day walking event in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The event built up to welcoming more than 1,000 walkers to Castlebar.In 2024, there were almost 400 walkers, from 20 different countries. Event organisers have added a new ramble this year in the Wild Nephin Park, a national park in Mayo. Over the four days, the event consists of a choice of four rambles, four 20km road-walks or four 10km road-walks.The ramble is unique to the Castlebar International 4 Days' Walks, it is a cross-country hike on the hills of Mayo, showcasing the wonderful views of the Mayo hills and out to Clew Bay.To tell us about the event is Rowena Gillespie, who is the director of the walks.To get in touch with the podcast, email us at [email protected]