Kendal Mountain Film Festival’s China unit recently had a successful programme tour in Shanghai in July. We are proud to have supported the season as an industry partner.
Over 41 years ago, in October 1980, Kendal hosted a new two-day event. Named the Kendal Mountaineering Film Festival, tickets were £5 and visitors were promised art, seminars, films, photography and – importantly – “two bars”.
The original group of six who set up the event were Alan Evans, Jess Stock, Ian Wall, John Porter, Jim Curran and Brian Hall. Little did they know what they had started, or how influential the event would become.
The British IP traveled and the Kendal China story started in 2014.
Two outdoor enthusiasts and professional photographers, Amanda Lu & Tiger Li started their world tour in 2013. When their adventure journey was complete, they reached out to the KMF team and subsequently brought numerous Kendal Mountain branded events back to China and duly created ‘Kendal China’ as the exclusive licensed Asia business partner, sharing adventure stories from home and overseas under the ‘Kendal’ banner.
Today, the ‘Kendal China’ team successfully organise and run outdoor cultural and sports events in the Greater China region with a view to promoting increased activity, diversity, and healthy lifestyles.
They take Kendal Mountain Film Tours to different cities across China as well as hosting Kendal themed events and Outdoor festivals in cities. This allows more people to appreciate the beauty of nature and get a greater understanding of the joy of outdoor sports & adventures. To date, more than 380 film screenings and speaker tours have been organised with mass participation covering a staggering 36 Chinese cities!
KENDAL CHINA continues to grow as a unique brand, community and passion driven company that lives at the nexus of sports, entertainment, and lifestyle culture. Our Vision is to drive positive change through increased outdoor sports engagement, cultural collaborations and awareness, sustainable travel promotion and inspirational educational programmes.
This is realised through an integrated approach that delivers spectacular events, entertaining media programmes and engaging brand campaigns, often as part of strategic consultation in the design, development, and management of the most innovative adventure destinations in China.
Starting in 2020, Kendal China works on several outdoor destination projects and 2021 will see the launch of an all-new Kendal Media channel reaching an even wider national audience.
We will continue supporting Kendal China and to learn from their great work on the ground!
