Forest Hill Walking Festival 2026 generates half a million steps

The third annual Forest Hill Walking Festival was held this weekend, 13-14th of June, 2026, and once again, we were happy to have the perfect weather for walking around Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park. 

Hearing about local musicians and artists

The 2026 event kicked off on Saturday at 4pm with the 'Pub History Walk', where the group ambled for 3 miles up and down the local hills, building a thirst for visiting 5 different local public houses along the route, whilst also acknowledging several that are no longer open, or have since been replaced. The historic destinations covered many different venues, from historic locations like the Dulwich Wood House and the Bricklayers Arms, to the quirky Snuffle Dog Cafe & Wine Bar (which was previously The Talma), and recently renovated pubs like the Fox & Hounds and Bird in Hand.

Building anticipation with a little history before heading in to the Bricklayers Arms

On Sunday 14th June, residents, visitors, and members of the Forest Hill Society took part in one (or more!) of the four walks on offer . As always, the aim of the festival is to celebrate the green spaces, history, creativity, and strong sense of community that make SE23 such a special place to live, while getting some decent exercise.

Together, our walkers covered over 250 miles - that’s roughly 500,000 steps between us. Another brilliant team effort!

The Music & Art tour comes to a close on Havelock Walk

Although we did not repeat the Challenge walk from last year, we did have returning favourites like the ‘Music & Art’, ‘Architectural Gems’ and the ‘Peaks & Views’ walks, which are three very different introductions to the history and geography of Forest Hill. This year also saw the introduction of the ‘Walking the Highline’ route, which proved to be a very popular new addition, exploring the route of the Highline trains from Forest Hill to Crystal Palace.

As always, a key part of the festival weekend is the “Edible Plant Giveaway”, when the Forest Hill Society Environment Committee gives away over 200 edible plants, many grown by the members themselves, to local residents and families. It is always great to see excited young gardeners choosing to grow (and hopefully eat!) their own tomatoes, mint, rosemary, sage, courgettes and more, whether on balconies, windowsills or in back gardens. This year we were also joined by Becky McKevitt (@beckymckevitt) who also provided many of the young plants we gave away, but also had more mature edible plants, and plenty of helpful advice, on offer.

For more details on each of the walks, you can find guides on the Forest Hill Society website.

If this sounds like your kind of weekend, we’d love you to join us so you can stay in touch. Membership of the Forest Hill Society is just £5 a year and the more members we have, the stronger our voice becomes in local matters and the more we can do as a community.

Thank you to everyone who took part, helped out, shared stories, grew plants and made this year’s festival such a success. Here’s to even more steps and smiles next year.