Thousands flock to Love Trails Festival in Wales

Nation.Cymru staff

Love Trails Festival closed its sold-out 2026 edition on the Gower Peninsula at the weekend, bringing together more than 5,000 attendees for a four-day celebration of movement, music, community and collective adventure in one of the UK’s most spectacular landscapes.

Festivalgoers collectively ran and hiked more than 100,000 kilometres – the equivalent of circling the Earth 2.5 times. The milestone event marked 10 years in motion for Love Trails, cementing its status as the UK’s definitive destination for the new wave of movement culture.

Standout moments included the Jubel Beer Relay World Championships, which drew huge crowds as teams of four and solo competitors raced a chaotic 400m course, drinking a can of beer after each lap in one of the festival’s most loudly supported events. Also returning was Timed Out™ presented by Passenger, Love Trails’ original race format that stops the clock for the best bits, with runners taking on timed trail legs before pausing at immersive “time out” stations featuring creative workshops, yoga, DJ sets and social moments.

Music remained central to the weekend, with 27 live acts and DJs carrying the energy from trail days into late nights. The Joy Formidable opened the main stage, before Mr Scruff brought Thursday to a feel-good close. Friday saw Joshua Idehen fuse spoken word with club-ready energy, followed by Nubiyan Twist’s signature jazz-fusion sound. On Saturday, nimino delivered a standout headline set, while Sunday brought the spirit and fire of The Zawose Queens before Hackney Colliery Band closed the festival in fittingly joyful style.

Defying the traditional festival format of watching from the sidelines, Love Trails invited people to actively shape their own weekend from the moment they arrived at West Castle Farm in Llanrhidian. Across four days, the site became a living map of modern outdoor culture, with guided trail adventures, grassroots crew takeovers, morning movement, talks, workshops, creative sessions, music, dancing and the kind of small human moments that turn strangers into friends.

Beyond the start lines, Love Trails showed how far the idea of a running festival can stretch. Festival-goers could move from a coastal run to a live podcast, from morning yoga to a grassroots crew hike, and from breathwork, mobility, strength, and dance to adventure films, foraging hikes, climbing, paddleboarding, sauna, spa sessions, creative workshops, and late-night music.

Some of the weekend’s most memorable sessions turned running and hiking into something more creative, social and unexpected, with trail runs into poetry, mindful movement, creative writing, wild swimming, DJ-led 5ks and sunset hikes. Together, they captured the spirit of the festival: no pressure, no perfect pace, just movement as a way to create, connect and see the Gower differently.

At a time when running culture is spilling beyond race days and into run clubs, social crews, outdoor escapes and festival fields, Love Trails felt like a glimpse of where the movement is heading next: less passive spectating, more shared miles, new friendships, big landscapes, live music and the simple joy of taking part.

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“Love Trails has always been about more than just running; it’s really about remembering what real life can feel like. We use running as a way to make friends, a way to make art, as a conversation and as a way to learn something new about yourself. It’s about discovering just how many different things running can be. Running is just the excuse, in a way.” says Theo Larn-Jones, founder of Love Trails Festival. “This tenth anniversary felt like the clearest expression of that vision yet. Whether people came with established crews or arrived completely on their own, movement became the ultimate social connector.”

Plans are already underway for the next chapter. Love Trails will return to the Gower Peninsula in July 2027, with fans encouraged to join the ticket waitlist now ahead of tickets going on sale this Wednesday, 8 July. Find out more HERE

Love Trails 2026 by numbers:

100,000+ total kilometres covered (enough to circle the globe 2.5 times)

5,000+ attendees gathered on the Gower Peninsula

720 wood-fired sauna dips and cold plunges completed

521 programmed activities across four days

500 runners arrived solo, finding instant community via social mixer runs

80+ distinct run and hike experiences led by Love Trails and grassroots crews

50+ panels, talks, and wellness workshops

27 live music acts and DJs across multiple stages

10 years in motion