Kendal Festival Organisers Pray For Rain...

There's one bunch of outdoors people hoping for rubbish weather this weekend and that's the organisers of this year's Kendal Mountain Festivals - it's not that they've got anything against you, just that the worse the weather, the better their attendance figures.

The festival kicked off last weekend and builds to a climax this week 17/18 November. The big-screen premiere of Joe Simpson adaptation The Beckoning Silence has sold out, despite its small-screen debut on Channel 4 a few weeks back, but there are plenty of other attractions for festival goers with online booking available.

It's the 25th anniversary of the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature with celebrations including Doug Scott, Jim Curran and Chris Bonington recalling climbs on Kangchenjunga, Everest and Kongur,. Pus there are readings by Pete and Joe's brothers John Boardman and Paul Tasker, and Pete's wife Hilary Rhodes. That's 2.00pm on Saturday.

Stephen Venables lecturing earlier this week
from the 2007 Festival Gallery

Then there's Greg Child the renowned Australian mountaineer talking about how a chance meeting with Doug Scott led him into 'an adventurous, tarantula-filled vertical career'. That's 7.30 pm on Saturday.

On the film side, Thomas Huber's film Am Limit follows the Huber brothers' career culminating in their speed ascents of the Nose on El Cap - 6.00pm on Saturday.

There's also a showing of The Alps, following John Harlin' IIIs quest to climb the Eiger route that killed his father and Mountains of Glass which profiles Eric Shipton's Patagonia journeys. And don't forget Al Lee's new film, PSYCHE which premieres on Saturday morning.

Loads more besides including a great speaker line-up with the likes of Greg Child, Thomas Huber, Jack Tackle, Will Gadd and Neil Gresham backing up headliners Sir Rannulph Fiennes and Scott and Bonington.

We could go on listing the attractions, but you can find full detals along with on-line booking facilities at www.mountainfilm.co.uk. As for the weather, we guess you'll have to wait and see though Metcheck has things cold and dry on Saturday in Kendal and wet and miserable for the Sunday.