The Out & Wild Festival, held annually at Abbotsham on the North Devon coast, has seen its online booking portal overwhelmed on Friday morning after news of its prestigious national award win spread rapidly across travel and lifestyle social media channels overnight. Festival organisers confirmed that advance ticket sales for the summer 2026 programme jumped by more than 340 percent in the 18 hours following the announcement, with several weekend slots now listed as sold out.
The award, presented by a national outdoor events body, recognised Out & Wild's commitment to low-impact adventure programming, local food sourcing, and community engagement with Devon's coastal walking and wild swimming communities. The recognition has placed Abbotsham — a small village near Bideford — unexpectedly at the centre of the UK's growing 'rewilding tourism' conversation, a trend that has been building momentum since 2025 as urban burnout drives demand for immersive nature experiences.
Visit Devon, the regional tourism body, moved quickly on Friday to amplify the festival's profile, issuing a statement praising the award as validation of North Devon's broader strategy to position the area as a leading destination for sustainable outdoor lifestyle tourism. Chief Executive Sarah Jennings said the recognition would help the region compete with better-known outdoor destinations in Wales and Scotland for the increasingly lucrative 'adventure wellness' demographic.
Local accommodation providers around Westward Ho!, Instow, and the Torridge estuary reported a corresponding spike in enquiries, with several glamping operators noting that their summer calendars — already strong — were now filling faster than at any point in recent memory. The Hartland Peninsula, within easy reach of Abbotsham, was cited repeatedly in social media posts as an ideal complement to the festival experience.
Festival director Roz Schofield told reporters on Friday that the award had exceeded the team's expectations and that organisers were now in discussions with North Devon Council about expanding the festival's footprint for 2027 to accommodate demand without compromising the low-impact ethos that earned it national recognition. 'We built this for people who want to feel genuinely wild,' Schofield said. 'The challenge now is growth that doesn't tame it.'