Diverse Voices at KMF 2024
Kendal Mountain Festival (KMF) is nearly here! From the 21 – 24 of November 2024 this event brings the outdoors community together for 4 days of films, interviews, panels, awards and outdoor sessions.
There is so much happening over the weekend, with lots of events and activities to join. There are some great sessions running related to diversity in the outdoors and we love to see many of our community members participating in talks, panels and featuring in films.
We’ve put together this short guide featuring sessions related to diversity and representation across the festival. As always, this list is not exhaustive: if we’re missing something that highlights diversity in the UK outdoors then let us know in the comments!
Thursday 21st November
18:00 Personal Best: From Rock Bottom to the Top of the World - Adele Roberts, marathon runner.
19:30 The Cycling Session - presented by British Cycling & Restrap - Hosted by Emily Chappell with a range of guest speakers including Iffat Tejani (Club Chair) and Shahina Chandoo (Club Coach) from Evolve – The Cycling Network for Muslim Women.
20:00 'Untethered' Premiere - Melanie Barratt, gold-medal winning Paralympian swimmer.
20:00 The Impact Of Social Media On Climbing - With a range of guests including Veronica Melkonian.
20:15 Film Collection: Air - featuring the film ‘Soar - a girls' paragliding roadtrip’ produced by Rhian Ebrey, founder of Glide Gals.
Friday 22nd November
7:45 Arc'Teryx Introduction to wild swimming with Gilly McArthur
9:45 Film Collection: Parent & Baby - Including ‘Anchors’ a short film about three friends (two women and one non-binary person) and their shared love of the Swallows & Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
10:00 BMC x ClimbOut Queer Climbing Session
11:00 Komoot X Adventure Queens (Women's Community Hike)
12:00 Film Collection: Parent & Baby - Including ‘Anchors’ a short film about three friends (two women and one non-binary person) and their shared love of the Swallows & Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
13:00 OUTO Nature Photography Walk
14:30 Merrell - Off Grid. On Topic: Promoting diversity and inclusion in the outdoors - Live Podcast
14:45 Basecamp talk - Join Every Body Outdoors as they discuss the challenges of getting outdoors without having access to the right kit
16:00 Lhakpa Sherpa: Mountain Queen
16:15 Feature Film: Breaking Waves - Kelda Wood, the first para-athlete to row across the Atlantic Ocean solo.
16:15 Film Collection, Explore Blue - Including ‘Capsized’ A film by Roxy Barry following Co-founder of Every Body Outdoors, Emily Williams, on a canoe trip across the Scottish highlands.
17:45 Basecamp talk - With Roxy Barry and Emily Williams talking about ‘Capsized’ (time tbc)
19:00 BMC Women in Adventure Workshop - With Rachel Sarah, Danielle Sellwood, Roxy Barry and Megan Cotterell.
19:30 Kendal Pride - Queer Connections
Saturday 23rd November
9:00 Komoot X Lakes Gravel Gang (Women’s Ride)
9:00 Feature Film: The Parkinson's Project - Following climber and teacher, Chris Hamper, as he navigates his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
9:15 Film Collection: Parent & Baby - Including ‘Anchors’ a short film about three friends (two women and one non-binary person) and their shared love of the Swallows & Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
10:00 Komoot X Community Walk with Every Body Outdoors and Allies
11:15 Film Collection: Parent & Baby - Including ‘Anchors’ a short film about three friends (two women and one non-binary person) and their shared love of the Swallows & Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
16:00 The Human Powered Session - presented by Patagonia - Hosted by Colour Up founder Carlos Casas and featuring a range of guests including runner Martin Johnson, and ESEA Outdoors founder Andrew Wang.
16:45 Feature Film: Ashima - Ashima Shiraishi, rock climbing
19:00 The Bikepacking Session - presented by Komoot - Showing "Kids & Coastlines" film featuring Vicky and CeCe bikepacking with CeCe on her recumbent ICE Trike. Vicky will be talking on behalf of CeCe and the Kids & Coastlines team as part of a panel session looking at all forms of bikepacking.
19:15 Feature Film: Unfiltered - An intimate profile of Renee McGregor, world renowned sport nutritionist and eating disorder specialist, ultra runner and trustee of Black Trail Runners,
20:00 Women in Adventure - presented by Arc'teryx - With a range of guests including Yvette Curtis, founder of Wave Wahines CIC.
Sunday 24th November
8:00 Black Trail Runner x Komoot x Adidas TERREX Social Run (link tbc)
9:30 Plus size clothing and kit try-on with Every Body Outdoors
9:30 Komoot X Community Family Walk with Blaze Trails
13:00 Men's Mental Health In The Outdoors - Presented by La Sportiva
14:00 Film Collection, Explore Blue - including ‘Capsized’ A film by Roxy Barry following Co-founder of Every Body Outdoors, Emily Williams, on a canoe trip across the Scottish highlands.
Base Camp Talks
Kendal Mountain Festival Base Camp is free to enter with stands and talks, there is always lot’s going on and you are sure to see some familiar faces around.
You can view more on the Kendal Mountain Festival website. If you can’t make it to the festival in person, there are online options too!
