A Greater Manchester-wide celebration of walking and wheeling is happening throughout May, with more than 350 community events planned as part of the 2026 GM Walking Festival.
Co-ordinated by Greater Manchester Moving, the Active Partnership for the city region, the festival sees groups, charities, individuals, and many others put on free, group-led walks throughout National Walking Month.
This year, the festival is ‘Celebrating Connected Communities’ – exploring how walking and wheeling bring people together across the region.
With hundreds of different group walks to choose from, you can search on the GM Walking Festival website for walks based on distance, difficulty level, proximity to public transport, accessibility by wheelchair, buggy-friendly walks, and routes close to cafes and pubs.
Louise Robbins, Strategic Lead GM Moving said: “This May, we’re encouraging everyone to get walking and wheeling and explore their local area, discover new places to walk, people to walk with and experience how group walking helps us connect.
“The GM Walking Festival aims to highlight the many ways in which community groups and community centres are using led group walks to bring people together around shared interests, a passion for the local area or health and wellbeing benefits. We hope to inspire people to walk or wheel more all year round by taking part in this year’s festival and experiencing it for themselves.”
Everyone is invited to the GM Walking Festival, and you can discover the full programme of free, group-led walking and wheeling events on the GM Walking website.
- Words:
- Bradley Lengden
- Published on:
- Fri 8 May 2026
