Walking Events
To encourage walking in and around Huntly amongst local residents and to raise the profile of the town as an ideal base for walking holidays, Huntly held its first ever Walking Festival this spring. A joint venture between the Huntly Development Trust and Deveron Arts, the event saw a programme of walking based events taking place in and around the town over the weekend of 15 – 19 April 2010.
During the festival, locals and visitors had the chance to attend a variety of events, ranging from guided walks to a dowsing workshop. On Thursday 15 April, the Festival started with a Film session of “Stand by me”, organised by the Huntly Film Club. On Friday 16 April, a walk with wheelchairs took place in the town centre square, bringing attention to the difficulties faced by people with disabilities to move around the town. Later that day, a talk was hosted at the OAP Hall in town. In “Two Talks about Walks”, people learned more about the shieling system of Scotland and how they could get involved in local walking groups.
On Saturday 17 April, walkers who took part in the two guided walks from the programme were astonished with the fantastic views of Huntly from the Clashmach Hill and of the Tap o’Noth. The Walking Festival culminated in a sponsored walk to raise money for two local charities, on Sunday 18 April. Earlier in the day, Strathbogie Ramblers led a 6 miles walk to Ben Rinnes, for more energetic walkers, who were rewarded by spectacular views over the North East. The Festival ended with a Dowsing workshop on Monday 19 April.
As part of the Walking Festival Deveron Arts hosted a visit by the artist Hamish Fulton. While in the town, Fulton led a choreographed walk with members of the public and, onn the last day of the event, Fulton set out from Huntly towards Tomintoul, linking the town to the Cairngorms National Park.
The development of walking in and around Huntly is an initiative supported by:
