The third annual White Cliffs Walking Festival starts today (Thursday).

Organised by the White Cliffs Ramblers – the south Kent branch of The Ramblers – the seven-day festival features a total of 39 walks, ranging from special interest or history/heritage walks of a couple of miles to the White Cliffs Challenge, a 32-mile trek on Sunday August 28, put on by the Long Distance Walkers Association.

Others on the programme include a nine-mile Dover Hills and Valleys Walk, three White Cliffs Coastal Trail walks and a 3.5-mile Smugglers Walk starting from Deal Pier.

On August 27, the festival will see the inaugural Bluebird Heritage Trail, a three-mile walk created by the Dover Society which visits historic parts of the town marked with bronze pavement markers.

The trail is being put on for the festival to mark Dover being awarded Walkers Are Welcome status.

The entire festival walks programme is on a leaflet available from tourist information centres, pubs, council offices, shops and other outlets in south and east Kent.

The programme is also on the festival’s dedicated website: Click here, where people can book to go on the walks.

They are also listed in this week's walks can be seen in today's Mercury.

The festival will be launched on Dover seafront at 10am today, followed by a choice of three walks – of four, eight or 8.5 miles.

It will be opened by Averil Brice, Kent public rights of way manager and also White Cliffs Ramblers secretary.

Also at the opening ceremony will be former Dover mayor Pam Brivio, who leads the group which secured Walkers Are Welcome status for Dover, and Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke.

White Cliffs Ramblers chairman Margaret Lubbock said: “We have a range of walks to suit everyone, with new walks with a particular emphasis on culture and nature as well as some of great scenic beauty.

“Our festival will encourage people to take a break and get to know some of our wonderful local countryside, whether you are an experienced walker or not.

“For new walkers, this festival could be the start of a new and healthier lifestyle.”