As the name suggests, Urban Escapes is a new “outdoor festival” aimed at all those city dwellers who’d quite like to get out for a bit. It takes place at Lee Valley Showground, Waltham Abbey on 17-19 June. Apparently that’s 30 minutes from central London, so it’s fairly handy.

The idea is that you go along and spend the days trying out a bunch of different outdoorsy activities – kayaking, mountain boarding, fishing, rock climbing, Nordic walking (whatever that is), mini-hovercraft driving, karting, skateboarding or, of course, mountain biking to mention but a few. There’s a big campsite, weekend passes and evening entertainment, so staying for the whole three days and two nights looks like a good idea.

Everything is provided – instructors, equipment, all necessary safety gear (although the organisers advise bringing some swimming kit and, obviously, a change of clothes for the wet stuff). As well as the activities, there’ll be talks from outdoor experts and plenty of retail stands to ease the pressure in your wallet.

For bike fans, there’ll be supervised bike parking so you can just ride to the show. If it needs a bit of fettling, the on-site Bike Doctor will attend to any minor mechanical maladies for free. There’s also the opportunity to win a new bike each day, courtesy of the Bike Doctor and Transport for London. The MAD trials team will also be on site, doing demos and teaching basic trials skills.

Day tickets cost £8 for adults, £5 for children or £23 for a family, weekend tickets covering all three days are £14 for adults, £7 for children or £35 for a family. That already looks pretty reasonable, but if you call the ticket hotline on 0870 060 1754 and utter the magic code “WUE” you’ll get two tickets for the price of one…

More details at www.urban-escapes.co.uk.