A CALL has been made for walking boots across the county to be laced up in a celebration of the great outdoors.

The East Lothian Walking Festival – Walkfest 22 – gets under way on Monday with a range of both guided and self-guided walks for people to enjoy.

Each of the guided walks at the festival, which runs until August 24, is split into either short/gentle or long/active.

Two taster events are also planned, with a Nordic walking event in Pencaitland next Thursday (August 18) and a ‘wheely’ good day at Whitekirk Hill, where people can use all-terrain wheelchairs to explore the path network, next Sunday (August 21).

Hilary Smith, who has been at the heart of the event, encouraged people to get outdoors and take part.

She said: “Through Covid, everybody was trying to get out, they were desperate to get out. We discovered things we did not know before and this festival is building on that.”

A smaller version of the event took place last year, centred around North Berwick and surrounding villages.

Organisers were determined to see that expanded, with walks now setting off from the likes of Dunbar and Musselburgh, and from Whiteadder Reservoir and Gladsmuir.

Hilary said the routes chosen had been selected in a bid to be as accessible as possible to everyone across the county.

She said: “We have tried to remove barriers as much as possible.

“We are grateful to the financial support from the area partnerships; we could not have done it without them.

“We are trying to make sure the walks are, in the main, through or near transport hubs so people do not need a car.

“There are many of the walks which are step free or use decent paths so people can go wheeling as well as walking.

“We are trying to make it as inclusive as possible so there is something for everybody.”

Go to walkfest.org.uk for more.