This website uses cookies. Learn more
This website uses cookies. Learn more
Welcome to the Westmorland Dales Festival
Join us for our annual celebration of the landscape, heritage and people of the wonderful Westmorland Dales! This is our seventh year (not counting the Covid years) and our second as a two-day Festival. We have a packed programme of events, exploration and entertainment in store, and are delighted to be welcoming back many familiar faces as well as introducing new ones.
You’ll be able to have a go at new crafts at workshops with Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Kirkby Stephen Community Arts and Lakeland Arts; join guided walks with Walkers are Welcome, Friends of the Lake District and Crosby Garrett historians; or simply enjoy the live music and browse the Festival fair. Meet local artists, makers and producers, and find out more about local conservation and community groups and how you can get involved with their work.
For children, young people and families there’ll be wild play by the river Eden with Stomping Ground; nature activities at Jubilee Park; games and crafts at Kirkby Stephen Youth Centre; a vintage merry-go-round and treasure hunt; and the chance to learn circus skills with juggler and festival regular Matt Tiffany.
Stainmore railway will be open on both days of the Festival; Winton Park gardens will be open on the Saturday; and Western Dales minibuses and Cumbria Classic Coaches will run a shuttle service between attractions.
All events are free of charge except where specified, and we are as ever enormously grateful to all the supporters and sponsors who help make this possible.
Find out what's on when and where below, or on our Events page, and have a wonderful Festival weekend!
Vivienne Littlefair, Chair, and the Westmorland Dales Festival team
Photographs above © ① Stomping Ground ② Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership
③ & ④ Kirkby Stephen Walkers are Welcome ⑤WDF
Photograph right © WDF
.JPG)
Events taking place all weekend.
More to come - keep checking back!
Discover Kirkby Stephen's historic station and steam railway
Meet Kirkby Stephen's Walkers are Welcome group, and join one (or more!) of their guided walks
An exhibition of work by members of the Eden Valley Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. Kirkby Stephen
Hop on board one of our Festival buses to travel between sites
Pick up a leaflet from the Upper Eden Visitor Centre and explore Kirkby Stephen and the nearby countryside at your own pace
Events taking place on Saturday 27 July.
More to come - keep checking back!
Fun and games and crafts at Kirkby Stephen Youth Centre
A beautiful walk along the infant River Eden, exploring Pendragon Castle, St Mary's Church and other sites of historic and historic interest along the way
An easy but scenic walk, taking in Stenkrith Falls, Nateby deer park and Wharton Hall
Discover a traditional Westmorland village, hardly changed in centuries, with a choice of two guided walks
Enjoy family activities and nature workshops followed by a guided tour of Kirkby Stephen's Jubilee Park
Lakeland Arts leads this drop-in activity, giving festivalgoers of all ages the chance to contribute to their very own eco-exhibition
Explore the geology, archaeology and natural history of Little Asby Common with Friends of the Lake District
Join Ursula Hurst to make a flag for the 'Drawing Hope' installation in Kirkby Stephen
Events taking place on Sunday 28 July.
More to come - keep checking back!
A day of wild play in Kirkby Stephen, by the river Eden
Circus skills workshops and all-day entertainment in Kirkby Stephen with juggler Matt Tiffany
Meet local artists, makers and producers as well as community and conservation groups
Learn how to make gelli prints with Julia Garner, Cumbria Wildlife Trust's artist in residence. Kirkby Stephen
Explore some of Kirkby Stephen's most historic streets and architecture
Catch a Cumbria Classic Coach to these glorious gardens, just outside Kirkby Stephen
A great mix of local bands and community groups playing throughout the day
Find Diana, our itinerant songstress, on Church Green at 11.15, then playing around town
Playing a mixture of fifties and sixties classic tunes, perfect for singing along to! On Church Green from 14:00
Playing an effortless blend of gypsy jazz, folk, bluegrass and reggae grooves on Church Green from 15:00
Local writing group Furrow Green Writers look forward to sharing recent pieces of their work
Music straight from the heart. On Church Green from 13:00 on Sunday 28 July
