The Gower Walking Festival began in 2005 and was run by the Mumbles Tourist Association to raise money for the independent volunteer-managed Mumbles and Gower Tourist Information Office. It started with 35 walks over eight days and grew to 71 walks over 16 days, with over 1500 participants. In 2015, due to unforeseen circumstances, the festival had to be cancelled.
After a break of four years, a new small enthusiastic group formed to restart the much-loved walking festival. The team met at the start of 2018 to put together a week of walks and other outdoor activities. We have gathered support from local businesses and the Council, and are indebted to our volunteers who will lead, steward and back mark our walks. We are also grateful to the following partners for providing some of the walks and activities: Park Lives, Gower Activity Centres, Swansea Ramblers, Penllergaer Trust and the Gower Society.
Our new mission statement sets out our purpose:
The Gower Walking Festival is an annual celebration of Gower, to encourage participants from all backgrounds to enjoy a unique landscape and a rich heritage. It aims to achieve this by offering an organised, diverse and sustainable programme of events, with minimum environmental impact, to educate, encourage and sometimes challenge all who take part.
This year our main aim was to relaunch the Gower Walking Festival. With more time next year, we plan to extend and expand the festival, so we welcome your feedback. Please send us an email with your comments and suggestions via the contact form on the contact page.
We do hope you enjoy your walks, and love Gower as much as we do!
Gower Walking Festival Association
Sarah Samuel (Chair)
Nick Samuel (Secretary)
Stuart Mackinnon (Walks)
John Ashley (Walks)
Caroline Rees (Marketing)
John Bennett (Treasurer)
