GM Walking Festival Returns

Greater Manchester’s month-long walking festival is due to start on Friday, May 1, with more than 350 free events planned across the city region. (ilovemanchester.com) The GM Walking Festival runs from May 1 to May 31, 2026, and organizers say the programme will include guided walks, wheelchair-accessible routes, buggy-friendly options and routes near public transport, cafés and pubs. (gmwalking.co.uk) Greater Manchester Moving, the region’s active partnership, coordinates the festival with community groups, charities, local organisations and individual hosts. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Connected Communities.” (ilovemanchester.com) The event sits inside National Walking Month, which turns May into a concentrated push for walking, wheeling and short local trips in Britain. GM Ringway, the long-distance walking route around the city region, said the festival has been running since 2015. (gmringway.org) The festival’s listings show how broad that push has become. Walks can be filtered by distance, grading, wheelchair access, buggy access and proximity to transport, which makes the programme work for leisure walkers, families and people planning shorter accessible outings. (gmwalking.co.uk) Local partners are already tying their own events to the festival. Transport for Greater Manchester’s Bee Active programme has scheduled a free guided walk in Queen’s Park, Bolton, on May 28 as part of the month’s activities. (beeactive.tfgm.com) The format mirrors other May walking campaigns elsewhere in England. North Somerset Council said its North Somerset Walk Fest will run through May 2026 with guided walks and health walks aimed at all ages and fitness levels. (n-somerset.gov.uk) Greater Manchester also has an existing network of walking groups that gives the festival a built-in audience. The Ramblers’ Greater Manchester and High Peak area lists regular walks across Bolton, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford, Manchester and Salford. (manchester-ramblers.org.uk) For residents, the practical change starts on May 1: a free, searchable calendar of walks and wheeling events across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs, running through the end of the month. (ilovemanchester.com)