TravelFilmFestival willfixallthat
The festival attracts grizzled
pros to first-time travellers.
Any sane person attending
can’t help but be inspiredT
heAdventureTravel
FilmFestivalis notjusta
celebrationoftheworld’s
greatest adventure travel
films from the 1920s to the
present day, it’s also a weekend of
inspiring speakers and authors who
will motivate and enthuse you. Held
in the picturesque Victorian township
of Bright, in the heart of Australia’s
Alpine region and coinciding with
Valentine’s Day, the light-hearted
theme of this festival is relationship.
This festival proudly promotes
the hardy world of human-powered
adventure travel alongside the trans-
global epics achieved by people
on skis, canoes, kayaks, bicycles,
tricycles and their feet.
“A n unmissable feast of adventure
for anybody dreaming of their next
trip. The festival attracts grizzled
pros to first-time travellers. Any
sane person attending can’t help but
be inspired,” festival director Rupert
Shaw says.
There will be opportunities to
meet the presenters and guests at the
restaurants and cafes around the town
and at Festival HQ, right next door to
the Bright Brewery.
The festival takes place at various
venues in Bright, with the Starlight
Cinema in the parkland behind the
brewery in the heart of town, one of
the best places to enjoy the films as
night falls.
There are films about everything
from epic global motorcycle,
rickshaw, taxi, aviation and train
journeys to a two-year-old and her
dad embarking on a 500km winter
ski expedition in the Norwegian
mountains.
This year’s festival introduces
special guests who have done
everything including bootlegging
whisky across the Sahara; beaching
a sail boat on top of a sleeping whale;
a two-pack-a-day smoker turned
ultra-marathon runner; and local
newlyweds who hiked for 137 daysfrom Mexico to Canada on the Pacific
Crest Trail for their honeymoon.
Adventure travel authors at the
festival will be Paul Pritchard as
well as Tim Cope, author of Tim
and Tigon, which covers a 10,000km
journey across Mongolia to Hungary
on a horse with a Mongolian dog by
his side. Meanwhile, Paul has taken
out last year’s Spirit of Adventure
award for his determination to
overcome all physical barriers. After
overcoming a serious rock-climbing
accident, Paul led a team of five
cyclists with various disabilities
from Australia’s lowest point at Lake
Eyre, 2000km over sandy desert
tracks to eventually reach Australia’s
highest peak – Mt Kosciuszko.
If you can’t make it to Bright,
Victoria, the Adventure Travel Film
Festival will also be in Fremantle,
WA, on March 20-22.
Almost 30 films will be screened
at the 2020 festivals. Here are a few
flicks that caught our eye...AWAY
WE GO
Bright, Vic, Feb 14-1666 MOTORCYCLE TRADER