GM walking festival

Greater Manchester’s month-long walking festival will return on Friday, May 1, with more than 350 free events built around walking and wheeling. (ilovemanchester.com) The programme runs from May 1 to May 31 across the city-region as part of National Walking Month, with guided group walks organised by community groups, charities, local organisations and residents. (ilovemanchester.com) Festival routes are already being listed with filters for distance, public transport access, wheelchair accessibility, buggy-friendly options and nearby cafés or pubs. (gmwalking.co.uk) Greater Manchester Combined Authority says walking and wheeling are part of the Bee Network, its integrated transport system linking bus, tram, train, cycling and on-foot travel. (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) The festival’s 2026 theme is “Celebrating Connected Communities,” with organisers framing walking as both local transport and a social activity that brings neighbours into shared spaces. (ilovemanchester.com) Greater Manchester Moving, the region’s active partnership, coordinates the festival and says its wider mission covers 2.8 million residents across the city-region. (ilovemanchester.com) (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) The event has been running since 2015, according to GM Ringway, and a 2024 Greater Manchester health integration report said that year’s festival included nearly 400 walking and wheeling events across all 10 boroughs. (gmringway.org) (democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) The push sits alongside a broader local buildout for active travel. Greater Manchester Combined Authority says the Bee Network is designed to make local journeys easier on foot, by wheelchair, by bike and on public transport, with rail due to be incorporated by 2030. (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) By early May, the test will be simple: whether a region that has spent years talking about joined-up travel can get more people to turn up and move together on foot. (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk)