Broads Outdoors Festival Launch
Norwich City footballing legend Jeremy Goss led by example when he cycled 25 miles to launch The Broads first Outdoors Festival.
The launch at Whitlingham Country Park kicked off more than 60 events over the next nine days aimed at encouraging people to get out and enjoy all that’s great about Britain’s magical waterland.
Jeremy is in training for a 1,300 mile charity cycle from Norwich to Munich where he scored the goal widely held as the most famous in the history of the football club during the 1993/4 UEFA Cup. He will set the first group of festival-goers off on a guided walk around the country park, having cycled from his home to get there as part of his training routine.
The festival runs from Saturday May 7 to Sunday May 15. Broads businesses, organisations and charities have all come together to promote the many different ways to enjoy the Broads from the very active to more relaxing pastimes like art and photography.
Many of the walks take people to wild parts of the Broads not normally open to the public. They range from dawn chorus and wildflower walks to ghost, keep fit and beach walks. Imaginative outings include a visit to the Land of the Windmills on the River Yare arriving by train, and walking back to Reedham along the Wherryman’s Way, with tours of the historic wind, steam and diesel pumps. A “Huff and Puff” alongside the Bure Valley Railway suggests huffing one way on foot or bike then puffing back by train.
The festival was the brainchild of Bruce Hanson, Head of Tourism at the Broads Authority. He said: “The Broads is primarily known for boating, but there is so much more to do and we want to show that off. Broads businesses have really pulled together to produce a fantastic programme that will give people the chance to do things they might not otherwise do and see things they might not otherwise see.”
Full details of all the festival events can be found on the website www.outdoorsfestival.co.uk
05/05/2011
