Love Trails. What's it all about?

Festival season is underway and everywhere you look, but one you might not be so familiar with is Love Trails. Located on the Wild Coast of Wales, Gower Peninsula is where you will find the gathering of over 5000 outdoorsy folk coming together to run, rave and connect. 

I’ll be honest, I was apprehensive at first. My previous festival experience has been heavily influenced by alcohol, late nights and generally just being a bit of a loose canon for a few days - I wasn’t sure what to expect when invited to a festival centred around health, wellbeing and wholesomeness. 

On arrival, it was clear to see that a lot of thought had gone into the choice of location, miles of greenery and a site which overlooks the beach is always going to be a crowd pleaser, the sunshine made it even more glorious. Me and my friend were lucky enough to be staying in the premium camping section, which gave us access to a bell tent and separate shower and toilet facilities - this definitely added to the overall experience for me, having our own space and a few luxury comforts definitely made everything else more enjoyable, especially given the heat over the weekend. 

We dropped our belongings in our tent and headed off into the festival. After a short walk from camp, you find yourself on what I suppose you could call the ‘main strip’, where you’ll find an array of stages, food vans and brand stands. There were some big names in attendance; Salomon, Garmin, Merrell, Goodrays, SUMS to name a few, it definitely felt like the right names were in attendance with great synergy to what the event was about. Many of the brands were there from a trade perspective, showcasing new products and selling on the stand, whereas some brands were offering a more immersive experience, Merrell were allowing consumers to borrow demo shoes to trial for the weekend which was a nice touch. 

So what exactly do you do at Love Trails? Well, throughout the day there is all sorts going on, there is an app available which was pretty convenient for seeing what is on and when. There are runs, hikes, talks, yoga and so much more to get involved with. Many of the hikes or runs are led by communities or influencers from within the industry. You had communities like Hiked Up or Athene Club leading hikes and people like the Hardest Geezer or Saint Jidz hosting talks. Me and my friends actually got involved with a Maverick shakeout run which was a short 7km run around the outskirts of the site. If you’re not up for the social stuff, you can do your own thing and explore what the Gower has to offer yourself. There are plenty of trails surrounding the site and if you have access to a car you can visit the variety of beaches which are only a short drive from the site. We visited the Three Cliffs Bay beach, a scenic spot with limestone cliffs backing onto it. 

During the evenings I wasn’t sure what to expect, did the wholesomeness carry through to the night or did things get a bit more rowdy? We spent both evenings at a stage positioned at the bottom of a hill overlooking an Estuary in the distance. DJ’s would be playing here from late afternoon to the early hours. It was a great spot for a stage, you could watch the sun go down whilst listening to music and it really emulated summer festival vibes, similar to what I’ve experienced at festivals like Boardmasters and Glastonbury. There was a good mix of music, mostly EDM focused from what I witnessed; lots of Drum and Bass, Bassline, House and some Jungle. People were definitely having it off, some more than others of course. 

Overall the Love Trails experience surprised me. I wasn’t too sure what to expect going in, but it felt like the perfect balance of health, wellness and letting your hair down. I spent a lot of time running, in the sea and trying not to butcher a two step. Tickets for next year are already on sale and you can sign up HERE