Do it now: Bear Grylls Festival

Could you build a shelter in the wilderness or tolerate the bone-chilling temperatures of the Arctic? Why not test your limits and see whether you'd cry, die or survive…

By Sam Lewis
Published 28 Sept 2016, 09:00 BST

Bear Grylls Festival
London, 8-9 October 2016

Bear Grylls is attempting one of his toughest missions: to encourage more families to venture outdoors and push their bodies to the limit at a survival festival in London — and National Geographic Traveller (UK) is going to be there, taking part in the action. You can expect to see us doing the 5k and 10k survival races.

Competitors will encounter 20-35 obstacles and be forced to tackle a range of scenarios in 'survival zones', which emulate the world's toughest terrains.

Festival-goers looking for lighter entertainment can learn how to live in the wild at bushcraft workshops or get an adrenalin fix with the pop-up bungee jump, Segway track and water zorbing. For those who don't have an appetite for
bushgrub eating challenges (eatgrub.co.uk), there's gourmet food stalls and bars, as well as live music and entertainment.

Festival tickets are £20 per person; under-12s go free. 5km race entry on the day: £80, 10km: £90 (including entry to festival).

Three to try

Bushcraft

Learn to live off the land, forage for food, find plants for medicine, and hunt, trap and camp out without leaving a trace. Ray Mears offers short courses around the UK.

Adventure
Survive in Iceland's wilderness, with expert mountain and ex-military guides teaching everything from avalanche survival to polar navigation in sub-zero temperatures. epictomato.com/arctic-iceland

Sporty
Join 1,000 Rat Racers running, biking and kayaking over 105 miles through the Scottish Highlands. Alternatively, tackle one of the other Rat Race routes around the rest of the UK.

Published in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK)

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