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Mountains inspire us all in different ways – and you won’t find a better showcase of the wide and varied diversity of mountain culture than the inaugural 2018 Killarney Mountain Festival.

This exciting spectacle and celebration of everything mountain and adventure-related will take place on the weekend of the 9th, 10th and 11th of March 2018. The festival aims to be the biggest and best social event for outdoor enthusiasts in Ireland this year. The festival programme was launched on January 31 in Café du Parc.

Killarney Mountain Festival will inspire visitors and will feature a multitude of exciting activities, including adventure movies and documentaries, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, film and photography competitions, family-fun activities, cultural interest, sample and featured hikes, scrambles and climbs, musical entertainment, and well-known international guest speakers.

Speaking about the inaugural festival, Piaras Kelly, well-known local mountaineer and festival committee member, said: “We envisage a great buzz over the festival weekend with many hundreds of keen outdoor enthusiasts visiting and being inspired by the unsurpassable natural beauty of Killarney and all that is has to offer as Ireland’s adventure capital. There will be an exciting and hugely varied programme of activities to inspire and invigorate visitors and the beating heart of festival will be at Basecamp, which will be located in the town centre across from Killarney National Park.”

The film screenings will showcase short and feature films along with award-winning, exceptional adventure documentaries. The exciting and inspirational guest speaker line-up features a host of the world’s most accomplished and renowned adventurers. The line-up includes mountaineer and writer Stephen Venables, author and climber Dermot Somers, Andy Cave, a well-known writer and mountaineer and Kerry adventurer Mike O’Shea.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to attend talks by renowned mountain commentator Cameron McNeish, Killarney-based musician and historian Thomas O’Sullivan, and Jasper Winn, writer, photographer, broadcaster and public speaker.

For more information, visit killarneymountainfestival.com.