Festival of the Outdoors returns to Sheffield for spring season
Highlights include the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, The Climbing Works International Festival and the Sheffield Half Marathon.
Sheffield's annual Festival of the Outdoors returns to the city this March, with events focused on climbing, hiking, filmmaking and paddleboarding.
The month-long festival includes the long-running Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF) from 18 to 20 March, which showcases adventure-themed features and shorts at the Showroom.
Climbing Works will also be hosting an international bouldering competition, with routes set by Tokyo Olympics designer Percy Bishton.
“This is 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," said Councillor Alison Teal.
"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."
This year's ShAFF programme will be previewed during two special events with subsidised tickets at the Winter Gardens on 16 February (including a Q&A with some of the filmmakers) and at Sheffield Cathedral on 9 March.
The full festival programme is online now, and you can also get updates through the festival's Twitter feed.
Other highlights include a special edition of the Pollen inner-city flower market on 20 March and the annual Sheffield Half Marathon on 27 March.
There's also beginners' paddleboarding sessions starting at Victoria Quays, an introduction to archery, and the slightly less healthy return of Sheffield Beer Week at venues across the city.
If you're looking to balance drinking with exercise, CAMRA heritage expert Dave Pickersgill will host two short walking tours of some of Sheffield's oldest pubs, on 9 March starting at Fagan's and 11 March starting at the Fat Cat.
