Sheffield’s Festival of the Outdoors set sail this Saturday with the “perfect weather” for the first event, a stand-up paddleboarding workshop.

The annual festival returned to Sheffield, also known as Britain’s outdoor city, with events running throughout March. This weekend, DC Outdoors invited locals to connect with nature with their paddleboarding session. 

As this was the first event of the month, the organisers experienced a lower turnout than expected with two participants in the morning session, and two in the afternoon. However, the company is hopeful for more participants in their upcoming events. 

Ruby, one of the attendees believes that outdoor activities are an important form of self care.

She said: “I moved to Sheffield thinking I will go to the Peaks every weekend, but that didn’t happen so when there’s an opportunity like this, I just take it.”

DC Outdoors is an organisation offering various forms of adventure activities like stand-up paddleboarding, rock climbing, and weaselling. The organisation has been working with Welcome to Sheffield for five years, on small-scale activities. 

Dan Crawford, the representative of DC Outdoors said: “The Festival of the Outdoors is a great advertising opportunity for us to bring in a wider audience, and start off the season.”

He believes that outdoor activities help people come out and enjoy nature, and their organisation helps do that in a responsible way which is also sustainable.

There are various outdoor activities set for this coming weekend with an outdoor climbing experience on 8 March, and another paddleboarding event on 9 March. Several other events, like a beer festival, guided walks and a pollen market, are scheduled during the month to celebrate the return of warmer weather.