The Festival of the Outdoors returns in Sheffield

This March the Outdoor City’s annual Festival of the Outdoors returns, celebrating the arrival of spring and all the benefits the season brings to getting outdoors and being part of what Sheffield has to offer across its 61% greenspace.

The festival encourages people to get involved in their great outdoors – whether it’s spectating, taking part, supporting their community or just taking more of an interest in being active and outside.

Headline events this year are Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF - 19/20 March), The Climbing Works International Festival (19/20 March), Pollen Market special (20 March) and the Run for All Sheffield Half Marathon (27 March). Excited yet?? Watch the trailer now...

Whether people want to watch some of the best new adventure films; catch a glimpse of world-leading climbers taking on boulder challenges set by Percy Bishton (who was the route setter for the Tokyo Olympics), soak in the atmosphere at Castlegate with a special Pollen Market, or run/spectate at one of the most popular runs in the country – Sheffield has it all in March.

On top of the headline events the festival will feature various family, specialist and cultural events to get involved in across the whole of the month of March. There will be dig days and mountain bike try-outs, volunteer events and heritage walks, Sheffield Beer Festival’s special runs and walks, orienteering, and much more.

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Executive Member for City Futures: Development, Culture and Regeneration said: “It’s fantastic that the Festival of the Outdoors can return this year. We work with brilliant independent organisations, voluntary groups and communities with such a variety of activities and events to be part of. 

“What we’ve got in Sheffield is unrivalled, a diverse and vibrant event calendar, the best partners in outdoors activity and the perfect playground to host them. Greenspace is an important part of our culture, influencing so much about life in Sheffield and this festival gives us all the chance to come together, both local people and the many visitors who also love it here, to celebrate how amazing The Outdoor City is.”

Councillor Alison Teal, Executive Member for Sustainable Neighbourhoods, Wellbeing, Parks and Leisure, said: “After two years of the covid pandemic, local people have never been more reliant on or grateful for their parks, woodlands and greenspaces. Festival of the Outdoors gives us the opportunity to celebrate that, as well as finding new ways to be active and bringing us together with nature, which all lead to positive impacts on our health and wellbeing.

“This is also a chance to highlight the responsibility we must all adopt in respecting and protecting the natural environments around us – the climate emergency and the nature emergency demand that everyone take ownership to look after the incredibly precious green and blue spaces that we’re so lucky to have. I hope we’ll see lots of people getting involved, being inspired and loving our outdoors, not just in March but throughout the whole year.”

Two extra special ShAFF collaboration events are also taking place this year, which are supported and subsidised by The Outdoor City so that tickets are offered with a significant reduction in price. There will be one event held on 16 February in the Winter Garden which will feature a Q&A type session with local film makers, as well as one on 9 March at Sheffield Cathedral which will have music programming from Sheffield’s very own Get Together Festival. More details will be shared soon through The Outdoor City, ShAFF, Get Together and Sheffield Cathedral websites and social media channels.

The full festival programme (which is continually updated until the beginning of March) is available at The Outdoor City website and you can follow @TheOutdoorCity on social channels for all the latest news and information.

From around mid-February a printed guide will be available through independent businesses and community centres throughout the city.