Get your walking boots on, as festival comes to Oldham

Events are kicking off across Oldham, as the hugely popular Greater Manchester (GM) Walking Festival returns for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 

The Let’s Walk GM Walking Festival 2022 is an opportunity for people to walk more in May by joining in with a programme of free, organised group walks.

Starting on 1st May, the Festival coincides with this year’s National Walking Month. 

With nearly 200 different group walks to choose from, you can search on the GM Walking Festival website for walks based on distance or grading, proximity to public transport, accessibility by wheelchair, buggy-friendly walks, and routes close to cafes and pubs. 

As part of this year's event, walks in Oldham include: 

Ten Thousand Steps Around The World Festival Walk, 28th May, 12pm: Northern Roots, is creating the UK’s largest urban farm and eco-park on 160-acres of stunning green space, ten minutes from Oldham town centre.

The Festival has been devised as a unique walking and arts experience for audiences, taking art out into green spaces and encouraging audiences to get active. Audiences will discover and enjoy diverse artists as they walk through the landscape. The theme is Human: Nature.

Chadderton Park Steppers are running several walks including a leisurely stroll along the canal and an evening walk starting in Chadderton, up through Royton and back round to complete the circuit. 

The Festival walks are provided by community groups, walking groups and a range of organisations working across Greater Manchester. With so many different types of walks on offer, there is something for everyone.

Louise Robbins, Strategic Lead GM Walking, said: “This May we want to encourage more people to keep moving by exploring their local area, discovering new places to walk, socialising and having fun through walking. 

“Our aim is to support people to walk regularly in their neighbourhoods and through the inspiring Festival walks programme, to encourage more walking amongst those who are new walking.

"To help with motivation, there is a calendar people can use to keep track of their walks or miles. We also have hints and tips for walking all year round available on the GM Walking website. 

“We’re lucky to live in such a beautiful region for enjoying the great outdoors. There are nature reserves, ancient woodland, and fantastic open spaces all within Greater Manchester.

"Much of this greenspace is tucked behind residential areas and we hope this May more people will discover it for themselves, by foot.”

This is the sixth annual GM Walking Festival, and the first since 2019. In 2019, there were an estimated 4800 attendances across over 350 walks as part of the Festival. The full programme of guided events is available to view at the GM Walking Festival website www.gmwalking.co.uk/festival-routes 

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