A blog post from Belinda Kirk about her Base Camp Festival:
Base Camp Festival is back for its second year and will take place from 4-6 September 2015 in the Peak District. Last’s year’s boutique festival was a sell out and a massive hit with those in attendance.
What makes Base Camp Festival such an exciting new idea, is that its a celebration of adventure wrapped up in what feels like a traditional music festival. Everyone camps together for the weekend in one big adventure tribe. During the day festival goers can participate in a range of adventure activities but as night falls Base Camp transforms into a magical party in the woods with live music and entertainment. Over 18’s only need apply.
It’s the brainchild of expedition leader, adventure film director and Guinness World Record Holder Belinda Kirk, who is also the founder of Explorers Connect, the largest adventure hub in Britain. Belinda wanted to create an annual celebration of adventure by bringing together the adventure community, from adventure professionals to novice adventure seekers.
There’s a wide range of activities you can join. Most are open to complete beginners, others for improvers and pros. River-tubing, fire-starting, wild swimming, hiking, shelter-building, camp-cooking, slacklining, abseiling, fat-bike riding, climbing, caving, pack-rafting, mountain biking, orienteering, high-rope challenge, bouldering, bushcraft, packrafting, navigation, astronomy, survival, adventure-yoga, white-water rafting, kayaking…..are just some of the activities at Base Camp this year .
A stellar lineup of some of Britain’s best explorers and adventurers will be attending. They will not only share their experiences in talks in the evening, but will also lead some of the activities during the day. You can learn about survival from Benedict Allen, known for his epic unsupported solo journeys, hear tales from rugby-player turned extreme environment athlete Richard Parks and from Jamie McDonald, who completed a world first solo run across Canada. You can go wild swimming with award winning writer Daniel Start, learn to slackline with Niall and Finn McCann whose adventures include skiing and speedflying across Greenland and walking a 3000 foot high slackline between mountains or participate in a wilderness fitness session with adventure racer Sophie Radcliffe. You can attend a workshop on independent book publishing with explorer legend Jason Lewis, the first person to circumnavigate the earth using only human power, learn how to plan an expedition with record breaking polar explorer Ann Daniels or get some tips on budget backpacking from ‘The Broke Backpacker’ himself, Will Hatton.
Everyone is welcome at Base Camp no matter what their adventure credentials are, beginner or pro, but one thing is necessary: you must be up for an adventure!
“My favourite thing about the festival is that we are all part of one big adventure community for a weekend. Being surrounded by likeminded people is truly inspiring and things naturally come out of it. All my best adventures have been cooked up when hanging out with likeminded friends. We want to inspire those that join us to plan their next challenge, equip them with extra skills and connect them with others to go on an adventure with after the Festival. Base Camp Festival is not just for the weekend, its for life”
Many of those attending last year were so inspired by their experience that they made a pact to go off and have specific adventures before this year’s festival. This included 19 year old Ellis Ashley, the first person to arrive at last year’s festival, who has since walked across the UK with nothing but a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back and a pair of homeless children’s shoes to raise money for the Railway Children charity. Ellis will be opening this year’s event with an account of his journey.
This year Belinda and her team are keeping it small, friendly and grass-roots. Only 400 people are invited, so its nearly sold out already. I wanted to alert my blog readers ASAP so that you both have time to snaffle a ticket before they are all gone.
All details on the explorers, adventurers and activities are on the website www.basecampfestival.co.uk
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