The 15th August 2015, is International Geochaching Day, and the day will see the start of the Island’s first Geocaching Festival – MANXCACHEFEST.

Geocaching is the fastest-growing leisure activity of recent times, arguably across the world. There are now almost 2.7 million geocaches hidden around the world: over 900 of them on the Isle of Man.

MANXCACHEFEST is a week-long series of geocaching events (see http://events.manxcachefest.com) organised by a team of Island-based geocachers and designed to encourage new visitors to the Island to engage in this popular pursuit. Fundamentally, the Festival takes the form just of 10 ‘events’, but ranged across the week of the Festival so that visitors have plenty of time to go off in search of the 900+ caches concealed about the Island.

The ‘main’ event is on Sunday, 16th August, at Tynwald, Feish ny Cashyn Manninagh GC5KD9A. Find them in the ‘Fair Field’ at the back of Tynwald Hill, the cultural and historical heart of the island, and this will be followed by a picnic on Snaefell (Picnic er Sniaul GC5KEMC). But by then, they will already have held events, notably an event (Oie ayns y Keyll GC5K75D) in Archallagan Plantation, where they will help to improve/build trails and tidy up this wonderful old Plantation.

Other events appear on a daily basis, some just brief gatherings, culminating in our final night on the 21st August (Abbyr ‘Slane’ dys yn Vooinjer Veggey GC5MJB0 Say Goodbye to the Fairies), when they will bid farewell to all visitors.

Sarah Jarvis, Marketing and PR Manager for Sure Isle of Man, said: “Sure is pleased to sponsor this unique event and help welcome new and returning visitors to the island.

“We’re certain that they’ll enjoy their time here, and the search for the island’s geocaches even more. The participants will be able to take advantage of our 4G network as a result of our sponsorship, allowing them to report their finds to friends and family back home.”