Take part in the Dorking Walking Festival 2026

We’re excited to announce the second Dorking Walking Festival, taking place from 19th to 27th September 2026. The festival will highlight the many scenic routes around our town and showcase the local groups that already organise walks.

All walks should start, end, or pass through Dorking town centre to encourage participants to discover or explore what the town has to offer. Walks can be either led or self-guided.

The aim is to promote walking as a healthy, enjoyable activity, while helping more people discover Dorking and make use of the fantastic walking groups already in place.

The Walking Festival will also be part of a larger initiative this year – The Hello Dorking Good Living Festival – two weeks of flavour, fresh air and good living!

• The dates of the festival will be Saturday 19^th – Sunday 27^th September.
• We are looking for walks that celebrate the town centre and surrounding areas.
• We would love a range of walks in terms of length, accessibility, demographics, etc. We welcome your ideas and will seek to help fill gaps.
• We want this to showcase all the groups and activities that there are already available and get people thinking about how walking can fit into their daily lives more.
• We want to also showcase the town and the lovely businesses there are too and we ask that your walk either starts or finishes in the town centre, or has a stop in the town midway through. See the town area here.

Last year as well as 21 walks we had 2 films about walking shown at Dorking Halls. If you have an idea that is slightly out of the box let us know.

As the Walking Festival will be part of the “Fresh Air” part of the Hello Dorking Good Living Festival we welcome submissions of other outdoor activities such as cycling, running or other outdoor pursuits.

Full out the form below to submit an activity.

Q: I’d like to run a walk but worried it might be too similar to someone elses?

A: This wasn’t an issue last year and we will monitor submissions to ensure this doesn’t happen. However, a walk designed for dog walkers may take a similar route as a wellness walk for young people. If the target demographic is quite different it won’t be an issue if their route is similar as different people will go on the walks for different reasons. The earlier walks are shared the more we can ensure there is a good mix, so please do submit your form as early as possible.

If two walks look to be too similar the Walking Festival organisers will liaise with both groups to find the best outcome.

Q: Are there any boundaries as to where the walks can take place?

A: As long as your walk either starts or ends in the town centre or has a stop in the town centre your walk can go wherever it likes. 

Q: Can I charge a fee for my walk?

A: Yes it is absolutely fine to charge a fee but you will be responsible for collecting the fee securely and you will need to have a clear refund/cancellation policy in place.

Q: Who is the target audience for the festival?

A: We will target both local people and potential visitors to the area and we hope to encourage both experienced walkers to celebrate the joy they get from walking but also those who perhaps haven’t had the opportunity to experience walking in this way. There are a variety of groups looking to take part and each of their demographics are slightly different. It is up to each group to decide who they want to target for their walk, depending on their strengths, target audiences etc. We will then support and publicise via appropriate channels.

Q: How will the festival be promoted?

A: Hello Dorking will promote the festival extensively through it’s website, social media channels and weekly newsletter. We will also provide a walk guide, posters and it will appear in our Dorking in Summer brochure. We will also promote it at all other events we have a presence at over the summer.

We will provide materials that all groups taking part can utilise and share with their followers.

As the Walking Festival is part of the Hello Dorking Good Living Festival it will also benefit from wider publicity as part of that initiative.