Banff Mountain Film Festival heads for Matlock Bath

Now in its sixth edition, the 2015 UK and Ireland Banff Tour is the largest to date with 83 screenings taking place in 55 locations, including Matlock Bath’s Grand Pavilion on Wednesday, May 6.

The festival showcases a diverse collection of the best and latest films from the global mountain sports community. The two and a half hour programme has been selected from over 370 films which were entered into the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival, held in the Canadian Rockies in November 2014.

Banff audiences are taken on a journey around the world, as they get to know the characters behind the hair-raising on-screen action sports.

This year’s Banff Tour offers audiences an exhilarating adventure through the big screen as they paraglide through the Alps, mountain bike on the Isle of Skye, surf in the Arctic Circle, ski in Patagonia, kayak in Canada’s British Columbia and much more - through 16 Tour films.

The Tour brings together people with a wide range of outdoor passions who return every year to enjoy the fantastic community feeling of a Banff screening and leave with new enthusiasm and inspiration for their ownadventures.

In 2015, the British and Ireland leg of the Banff World Tour Tour is expected to bring together more than 45,000 adventure lovers.

The World Tour travels the globe to over 45 countries, being enjoyed by more than 400,000 people.

This year’s Tour film highlights include:

The Ridge

World renowned trials rider Danny MacAskill returns to his native home of the Isle of Skye in Scotland for a new challenge: riding a mountain bike on the notorious death-defying Cuillin Ridgeline.

Into the Empty Quarter

Inspired by the journey of one of Britain’s great explorers, Wilfred Thesiger, through the world’s largest sand desert: Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron attempt a journey into the same Empty Quarter. Their trip is hastily-planned and low budget: unable to afford camels they instead hope to drag a homemade steel cart (filled with 300kg of supplies) more than 1,000 miles through the ferocious desert heat.

Drawn

Acclaimed climber and artist Jeremy Collins embarks on four journeys, from the Venezuelan Amazon, to the China-Mongolian Border, to the northern reaches of Canada, and to Yosemite Valley in California. This powerful adventure includes the death of a friend, the struggle of a tribe and the celebration of life.

l Tickets £12 and £10.50 for The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour at Matlock Bath’s Grand Pavilion at 7.30pm on May 6. Contact www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk or 01629 583 834.