Keswick Mountain Festival promises action, entertainment and value in 2025

Organisers have revealed the first details of the 2025 Keswick Mountain Festival, as bookings for the event open. Once again kicking off the summer season, the festival will return to the Lakes District with the promise of a packed schedule of outdoor sports and activities, open air live music, speakers, exhibitors and food and drink. A new approach to ticketing will simplify choices and improve value for visitors. Next year’s Keswick Mountain Festival will run from 16-18 May, with its main base in Crow Park on the shore of Derwentwater. Tickets will be available from Thursday 31 October.

Keswick Mountain Festival (KMF) is one of the UK’s best-loved and most popular events for fans of the outdoors. Founded in 2007, it brings thousands of visitors to Keswick for a weekend of immersive experiences among the famous Cumbrian fells and lakes. As always, the Festival Village in Crow Park will be the main hub at KMF, but participants in many of the activities will have the opportunity to explore the surrounding landscape, while aspects of the event will also take place in the nearby town centre.

KMF will enhance its live music offer for 2025, with the combination of an open air stage and performances within the food and drink area, and the addition of a DJ bar tent. KMF will announce some of the headline performers for the Friday and Saturday nights in the near future and organisers are promising a line-up that will get the crowds up on their feet. A reimagined food and drink zone will incorporate acoustic sets by a variety of artists, while the new dedicated DJ bar tent will be another venue for those who want to enjoy music throughout the day.

Inspiring visitors and helping them to get active in the outdoors remain core aims of Keswick Mountain Festival. KMF 2025 will see the return of 16 sports and outdoor events, with options for all ages and abilities in trail running, hiking, open water swimming, cycling, triathlon, and adventure racing. Meanwhile, the Festival Village will also host a wide array of speakers from the world of outdoor adventure, plus exhibitors and taster activities, and the Accessible Adventure Zone, as the festival seeks to be inclusive and welcoming for everyone.

KMF has introduced a revised and simplified approach to ticket booking that will see all entrants in the sports and outdoor events gain access to the full weekend festival experience, while others who simply want to enjoy the live music and speakers will be able to buy tickets for those. Some taster sessions in the Festival Village will be free at the point of access, while the rest will be pay-as-you-go. As always, Crow Park will be free to access until 5:00pm on each day, after which anyone who has booked a place on a sports or outdoor event will be able to stay on site for the evening entertainment, along with everyone else who has bought festival tickets.

KMF remains committed to improvingsustainability, accessibility, inclusivity and diversity, as well as delivering a positive impact for the people of Keswick. Alongside charity partner The National Trust, the festival continues to support Fix the Fells, and invites everyone who attends to contribute. KMF aims to raise £10,000 to cover the annual cost for conservation work on Catbells, which looks down on the Festival Village from the other side of Derwentwater. Organisers will be teaming up with venues and stakeholders in Keswick to integrate aspects of the festival into the town and boost the local economy.

Jamie Simpson, KMF marketing director, comments: “We’re delighted to open bookings for the Keswick Mountain Festival 2025. We’ve done a lot of work to build a programme and ticketing packages that deliver plenty of options and great value for every visitor. And we’re making a few tweaks to the format that will make the visitor experience even better. We’ve got loads more to announce over the months ahead, but it’s important to open the sports events now, so that folk can plan their schedules for next year. It’s always a huge privilege to welcome people to this stunning location and we’re already excited about what we’re lining up for next May.”

Bookings for the 2025 Keswick Mountain Festival are open at www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk, with an option to donate to Fix the Fells with each purchase. All of the latest information about the festival will be added to the website and the public can find the event on Facebook or follow @keswickfestival on X and Instagram for the latest news.