This May will be the 5th year of the Leenane Mountain Walking Festival which has become a major event on the events calender for Connemara and the area. This year’s event will take place on from the 3rd – 5th May – May bank Holiday.
This great festival has been designed to suit all levels of walkers from casual low level walks to the more experienced! Each day there is a choice of at least 3 walks from Strenuous to low level and we have also added a guided cycle on both the Saturday & Sunday so if you don’t fancy walking both days you can give this a go. This year the programme includes the firm favourite Mweelrea aswell as the Devil’s mother, Maameen, a level walk with geologist Kevin O Callaghan and more. The full programme of events can be found on the village website www.leenanevillage.com.
Each walk is guided by qualified, experienced guides and covered by public insurance. Another unique element of the festival is that the local farmers get involved with guiding the walks and share their vast knowledge, folklore and history of the land. With the farmers involvement in the event, they kindly grant the participants permission to cross their lands and visit areas that are not normally open to the public. Transport to and from starting and finishing points will be provided as well as tea/coffee & scones at various local businesses at the end of each day.
Other evening events over the weekend will include a race night on the Saturday and the annual Ceili and BBQ in aid of the local Red Cross on the Sunday.
Walkers must register online for the events. For a full details and list of events check out –www.leenanevillage.com, email leenane@killary.com or call 087 2855756.