After the rip-roaring success of the inaugural Australian Adventure Travel Film Festival in 2012, the second is shaping up to be even bigger!

Hosted once again by Brit adventurers, film-maker Austin Vince and travel author Lois Pryce, The Adventure Travel Film Festival will be returning Down Under in summer 2013. Showcasing the best adventure travel films and talent from Australia and overseas, it will be a three-day event guaranteed to appeal to adventurers, armchair travellers and dreamers alike. The festival will be brimming with inspirational talks, workshops and social events featuring celebrated local and international adventurers, covering everything from trekking, motorcycling and 4x4-ing to kayaking, climbing, cycling, long-distance horse-riding and much more.

Against the scenic backdrop of Victoria’s Great Alpine Valleys in beautiful Bright, there’ll be screenings of some of the best adventure travel films ever made, as well as a host of big names from the adventuring world – including Australian travel legend Mal Leyland, plus Jon Muir, Eric Phillips, Pat Farmer, Kate Leeming, Beau Miles, and Graeme Joy, who’ll be wowing the crowds with their amazing endeavours. Plus, experts including AdventurePro Australia/NZ’s co-founder Colin Kneebone will be on hand to give advice and encouragement to budding outdoor/adventure filmmakers.

2013’s line-up of celluloid adventures includes classics from the golden age of exploration such as Twice Upon A Caravan (1933), the tale of an epic solo motorcycle adventure from New York to Japan, as well as more modern offerings like Felicity Aston’s Call Of The White (2009), about an incredible all-female ski trek across the Antarctic,and Mazungu (2008), the story of a five-month solo canoe trip through the Congo. Also in the pipeline are two world premieres from a couple of homegrown adventurers - Kate Leeming’s Breaking The Cycle, the tale of her danger-filled solo cycle from West to East Africa,and Beau Miles’ Running The Highlands, charting his epic attempt to be the first person to run Australia’s Great Dividing Range.

The festival will showcase many other spectacular travel films from the last 70 years. And to add to the vibe, there’ll be an open-air Starlight Screening each evening.

Weekend ($75) and day passes ($50) will be available in advance from 19th October via TryBooking (tickets will also be available on the door but more expensive). Tickets include not just films but workshops on film-making and presentations from top-notch adventurers. There are local hotels, campsites and B&Bs aplenty, with all budgets catered for.

The festival takes place from Friday 15th February –Sunday 17th February 2012 at the Bright Tourist Information Centre and Bright Brewery, which is currently being expanded to cope with the anticipated influx of festival-goers. Find out the latest on Facebook, Twitter, or the website: www.adventuretravelfilmfestival.com.

The Adventure Travel Film Festival is a must for any sane human, adventurer or not, who has ever dreamed of exploring our great wide world. Itchy feet guaranteed!