These are free children’s events but please reserve a place at Colburn,Catterick or Richmond Library. All children should be accompanied by an adult.

C1: Colburn Library, Broadway, Catterick Garrison, DL9 4RF at 10:30am

C2: Catterick Library, 1 Gough Road, Catterick Garrison, DL9 3EL at 1.00pm

C3: Richmond Library, Queen's Road, Richmond, DL10 4AE at 3.00pm

Join author, performer and composer Gareth P Jones for a uniquely musical twist on classic storytelling. CinderGorilla and Rabunzel [illustrated by Loretta Schauer] are brought to life as fully interactive Picture Book Musicals from The Ministry of Mini Musicals. These lively immersive sessions invite the audience to sing, move, act and join in with the story. Each performance includes original live music and are fully interactive and inclusive. No two shows are ever quite the same! Expect colourful, energetic animal fairytales featuring warm messages of equality, empowerment and respect.

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Richmondshire Cricket Club, Hurgill Road, DL10 4AR | 7:30pm | £10 | bookstall | disabled access

Asad Qureshi, filmmaker and writer, works in dangerous places. When he sets off to interview Taliban commanders, he finds himself on the wrong side of the camera with a gun to his head and a ten million dollar ransom. 165 Days - Prisoner of the Taliban is his compelling account of his captivity. The emotional turmoil endured by those on the outside battling to save his life: his parents in failing health, a stoical brother facing down the terrorists. This is a haunting story of fear, loss, hope and the strength of the human spirit. The book offers unique behind-the-scenes insights into the workings of a notorious paramilitary network. Above all, it provides a stark reminder of the privilege of freedom.

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Leave Station car park 9.00am. Start at Marsett. (GR: SD 903 862, What3Words: ///frantic.handsets.keyboards) at 10.00am. 11 Miles. 1,300’ of climb. Hard. £7

This walk takes us across the high moors south of Raydale. We cross the valley to Stalling Busk before picking up the route of Wainright’s “Pennine Journey” as we gain height across Stake Moss. We leave that route as we head west across Cray Moss on our way to Yockenthwaite Moor and our high point at 2,110’. The name of the areas around here indicate the countryside we will be crossing – which is largely peat moorland. This could of course be wet in places. We descend from the moors and walk down from the head of Raydale to return to our start.

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Leave Station car park 9.15am. Start at Gunnerside Village Hall parking (GR: SD 951 982, What3Words: ///radiating.eagle.belly) at 10.00am. 8.5 Miles. Moderate. £7

Gunnerside Gill is a rich mix of scenic beauty and industrial heritage dating back to its key importance in the days of the lead mining industry. We start our walk from Gunnerside along the valley path, with lots of evidence of mine workings, and the remains of a smelt mill and peat store. We then climb onto higher ground where the landscape is completely dominated by the former industry. As we complete our walk we move onto moorland managed for the today’s key land uses of grouse moorland and sheep rearing, before descending back to our starting point.  

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Meet at Altberg Factory Shop, 2B Racecourse Road, Gallowfields Trading Estate DL10 4TG ( What3Words: ///wound.rinsed.clerk) at 10.00am. 6.5 Miles. Moderate. £7  

This traditional “Start of Festival” event is a good way to get to know one of the most popular short walks from Richmond, with the added interest of a visit to Altberg, the last remaining boot manufacturer in England. We will start the day at the factory to see how the boots are designed and made - for walking, the army and biking. There’s time for a cup of tea and a look round the excellent factory shop before a walk along Whitcliffe Scar, with great views over lower Swaledale, to hear about the famous but gruesome legend of Willance’s Leap.

Supported by: Altberg

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Books hidden from 10:00am in and around the Market Place and the Station. Free event!

Philippa Lyall runs a local business with Usborne Children’s Books.  As part of the Festival, Philippa is organising a ‘Book Hunt’ around the town.  Around 80 books will be hidden for children to find, take home, READ and either KEEP or RE-HIDE to spread the joy of reading. Look out for a ‘Book Treasure Trail’ too, with the chance to win a whole heap of books! Philippa also works with schools and other organisations and can offer them lots of FREE BOOKS. Get in touch with her by email: verybestkidsbooks@gmail.com  or by visiting her website  www.verybestkidsbooks.co.uk

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The Station, Richmond, DL10 4LD | 10:00am | £60 | café, bookstall, disabled access

Learn the art of bookbinding in this hands-on 3-hour workshop. Have you ever wondered how fine and antiquarian books were made? The art and craft of book making dates back over two thousand years, but whether that’s works from ancient China, Japanese designs, the rich tradition of Islamic bookbinding, or the leather-bound volumes of stately-home libraries, the principles are similar: papers are sewn together and secured within a protective, often decorated, casing.  In this workshop led by local bookbinder, Delphine Ruston, see for yourself how books start life by making two books of your own to take away – a 3-hole pamphlet (or chap book), and a single-section, hardback notebook. With a few materials, tools and simple skills, it’s possible to make attractive books to put to whatever use you wish.

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Richmond Town Hall, DL10 4QL| 4:00pm | £10 | refreshments | bookstall | disabled access

A journey through human festivity, told through colourful travel narratives set in some of the world’s most eye-catching festivals and interwoven with insights from the fields of anthropology, history, psychology, and folklore, examining why we celebrate festivals in the ways we do. Fiesta explores the vibrant tapestry of human festivity, delving into the extraordinary lengths we undertake to express our cultures and commemorate life’s milestones.

Daniel Stables has been working as a travel writer for the last decade, first writing guidebooks for Rough Guides, and later writing articles for National Geographic, the BBC, and national newspapers. He has won acclaim and recognition for his work, having been shortlisted for Travel Writer of the Year at the Freelance Writing Awards in 2021, and for Travel Feature of the Year in 2023 by the British Guild of Travel Writers.

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Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond DL10 4DW | 7:30pm | £10 | from www.georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk | bar | bookstall | disabled access

Dr Hindpal Singh Bhui OBE leads inspections of prisons and immigration detention at HM Inspectorate of Prisons and is Visiting Law Professor at the University of Oxford. He has led numerous international prison reform projects and is an expert for the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Hindpal was formerly a probation officer, working in the community and in prison, and won national awards for his practice in both contexts. He edited The Probation Journal for ten years, and has published widely on prisons, probation and immigration detention, as well as a book on Race and Criminal Justice. He will be discussing his recent book, What Are Prisons For?

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Leave Station car park at 9.00am. Start at west end of Newbiggin on Lune where there is ample parking in the Village Square (GR: NY 704 053, What3Words: ///variously.secure.client) at 10.15am. 10 miles. 1,700’of climbing.Hard. £7

This walk is at the northern end of the Howgills’ familiar swooping hills and valleys which make the Howgills different to other northern dales. A long steady climb takes us to the summit of Green Bell at 1,984’ and on to Randygill Top at 2,047’ with splendid views back over the Warcop Fells. We descend back to the valley and follow a pretty path through woods and along Weasdale back to Newbiggin.

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Leave Station car park 9.00am. Start at the Dales Countryside Museum CP – DL8 3NT (GR: SD 875 899, What3Words: ///skins.cubic.panels) at 10.00am. 11 Miles. Moderate. £7

A varied walk through the lovely countryside and villages around the market town of Hawes. Round the route we will enjoy spotting a series of inventive mosaics. These evoke the life, the flora and fauna, and the history of the area. The route takes us to Burtersett and on to Gayle. We visit Aysgill Force before picking up a series of tracks and lanes on our way to Appersett and Hardraw and the ascent to Sedbusk. From here we descend into the valley and back to Hawes. The route crosses rolling countryside, with plenty of ups and downs, but with the exception of a short climb out of Hardraw, none of these are particularly steep. There are, however, a number of narrow pinch stiles. 

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Leave Station car park 9.00am. Start at Rukins Farm Car Park (GR: NY 892 012, What3Words: ///attending.sonic.drag) at 10.00am. 8 Miles. Moderate. £7

The journey to the source of the Swale takes us into one of the remotest corners of Swaledale, an area of seemingly endless fells and deep gills, of wide skies and scattered farms. Several characteristic “forces” [waterfalls], all impressive after rain, add to the attractiveness of the scene. Leaving Keld we follow Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Trail through dramatic Whitsundale to Ravenseat, before dropping down to the source of the Swale. A short walk along the river, across open moorland and a terrace above the river takes us back to Keld – with further waterfalls on the way. There are a couple of short but steepish climbs enroute.

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The Station, Richmond, DL10 4LD | 10:00am | free | café, bookstall, disabled access

In conjunction with the Festival, The Station will be hosting a Book Fair - come along and browse a variety of new, second-hand, antiquarian and collectable books from expert sellers on The Platform - as well as our regular ‘Lost and Found’ book stall. Heaven for all bookworms and collectors!

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Meet outside the Town Hall at 2.15pm. Free but donations to Richmondshire Museum most welcome.

This walk explores Richmond’s Wynds and Lanes offering big views, intriguing nooks, secret places and a chance to hear of the people who lived in them. The walk is mostly on pavements but also has some steep slopes and steps.

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Richmond Town Hall, DL10 4QL| 4:00pm | £15 | refreshments | bookstall | disabled access

Rachel Hewitt is a prize-winning author: notably the best-selling Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey (2010) and more recently, The Last Bastion: A History of Women in Sport 1984-2024 (2024). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and her latest book, Every Day. In Her Nature blends memoir, history and a feminist perspective to reveal how women have long found joy, strength and power in outdoor adventure – and how men have tried to stop them. In conversation with Rachel will be journalist, Rosemary Brown. An avid traveler, she is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Churchill Fellow. In her quest to put female adventurers 'back on the map' she speaks at the Globetrotters Club and helped to organise The Heritage of Women in Exploration conference at the Royal Geographical Society. Her latest book is Moving Mountains on women in climbing, celebrates nine extraordinary women climbers commemorated in peaks that bear their names. Defying extreme altitudes and discrimination, they summitted mountains across the globe to achieve a distinction long reserved for men and monarchs. Blending biography, adventure and history, Moving Mountains restores these pioneers to their rightful place in exploration.

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Richmond Town Hall, DL10 4QL| 7:30pm | £10 | refreshments | bookstall | disabled access

The Himalaya is not a wilderness! For thousands of years the landscape has formed the region’s history, and been formed by people with their flocks, ploughs, and imaginations in turn. Religion, economy, and politics were derived from the land -- and made their mark on it. In his innovative book Human Nature, Thomas Bell mixes travel and anthropology to write a history of Nepal as a cultural history of the environment and compares it to Western environmental ideas.

Thomas Bell lived in Kathmandu for almost 20 years, working as a foreign correspondent, UN political officer and human rights researcher.

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Leave Station car park at 9.15am. Start at lower end of East Witton Green (GR: SE 144 860, What3Words: ///divided.crunch.waking) at 10.00am. 9.5 Miles. Moderate. £7

We start from the lovely village green at East Witton with a steepish climb to Sowden Beck Farm and up to the moors separating Coverdale and Colsterdale. Our track takes us past Slipstone Crags as we descend to the wooded valley and Gollinglith Foot.  Here we pick up the Six Dales Trail as we re-cross the moors to Ellingstring and pick up farm tracks back to our starting point.

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Leave Station car park 9.15am. Start at pull in parking overlooking Surrender Bridge (GR: SD 989 998, What3Words: ///districts.veered.manliness) at 10.00am. 7.5 Miles. Moderate. £7

Our walk gives great views of Swaledale, and plenty of opportunities to hear and see a variety of moorland birds. Starting and finishing at the ruins of the smelting mill at Surrender Bridge, we walk over rough moorland and along valley paths to illustrate the landscape in which local farmers work, and the industrial past of the hamlets through which we pass. Over the last 40 years there have been major changes in farming in Swaledale affecting the food we eat, and the landscape that we live in. En route we visit Hazel Brow Farm in Low Row, a farm that has sought to adapt and diversify, and hear from its owner how they have coped with the ever-changing demands and the impact this has had on the lives of people in the area and on the countryside through which we walk.

Supported by: Hazel Brow Farm

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Start at the Fosse Car Park, at Richmond Falls DL10 4JR (What3Words: ///behalf.values.sleepers) at 10.00am. 4 Miles. Easy. £7

A short walk led by members of Save Our Swale, a volunteer group formed in 2023 to monitor water quality and invertebrate health. There will be several stops to discuss issues of pollution, Richmond’s rich history, and the town’s relationship with the river. The walk will go via Easby Abbey, following established tracks and passing through woodland and pasture. There is no lunch stop on this walk.

Supported by: Save Our Swale

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Start at Richmond Racecourse Hurgill Road CP (GR: NZ 158 020, What3Words: ///November.chain.brink) at 10am for 10.15am. 4.5 Miles. Moderate. Free just turn up on the day.

This walk is part of the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks programme. Our walk takes us across the old racecourse to Coalsgarth Gate, and then through Beacon Plantation to come out on the upper section of Hurgill Road. We descend to join the route of the Coast to Coast National Trail at High Leases, enjoying the panoramic views across to Richmond, and with the North York Moors in the distance. We walk back towards Richmond on the C2C route before turning up through Aislabeck to return to the starting point. Whilst a short walk please note there are some significant ascents & descents.

Supported by: Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Richmondshire

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