Celebrating biking without bulk | Lightweight Adventure Festival back bigger and better for 2024

The Lightweight Adventure Festival is back in the heart of the Peak District for 2024, promising to be better than ever, following a substantial size increase. 

The event, now entering its third incarnation, is a celebration of motorcycle travel with less, whether that’s a smaller machine, less luggage, or simply a minimalistic mindset.  

Single day admission will set you back between £49-£55 depending on the day, or alternatively, tickets including camping are available at £99 to cover the full weekend of 12-14 July. 

Speaking with MCN, Marc Deri, Co-Founder of the Lightweight Adventurers described the festival as the “bringing together of a community – celebrating lightweight travel and low impact adventure”. 

Business partner, Jamie Thom, further described the event as a focus on “a more agile style of adventuring”. 

The event focusses on the possibilities and achievements of biking done light, with speakers regaling crowds with their own tales of travel aboard smaller capacity machines, including stories of continent crossing trips and off-tarmac motorcycling. 

Speakers including Austin Vince, Hema Choudhary and Ben King will be in attendance, among other world travellers.  

Two main-stage tents will hold talks, as well as a live recording of the Trail and Adventure Motorcycle Podcast. Alongside these, the organising duo will be running their own ‘Academy of Adventure’ throughout the weekend, using their military know-how to instruct budding biking enthusiasts in the art of travelling with less. 

What started out as a small coming together in a field has quickly blossomed into a hugely popular gathering of like-minded individuals, with this year’s event expected to attract up to 1000 guests. 

“We’ve gone from what was a relatively basic nine-acre field to a 40-acre site with hardstanding, barns and pockets of areas we can separate off. It’s going to have less of a rally feel to previous years. But we still want to stick to its route – we still want it to be accessible and affordable,” said Deri. 

Far from being exclusively for those on smaller machines only, Deri was keen to stress it is the philosophy, not the equipment that’s important: “Bring your CBR, bring your GS, bring anything you like”.  

“We may celebrate the benefits of a light bike, but anything is welcome. It’s all about being open. Lightweight adventure doesn’t even need to mean travelling with the bare minimum, it’s just about getting out there and trying to discover a rawer experience,” Thom pointed out. 

“Hopefully people can take away new knowledge and inspiration. But in previous years people have even left with new friendships. We had two guys send us a picture riding together in the Arctic circle – they’d met at the first festival and hit it off over a few beers and now look.” 

To learn more about the joys of simplified touring, or to purchase festival tickets, head to the Lightweight Adventurers website now.