The first edition of this great Italian outdoor festival celebrates significant participation figures, successfully launching the region into a whole new vision for sports, multidisciplinary and extremely attractive to tourists. At least 25,000 visitors attended the event over 10 days and more than 1,100 athletes engaged in the vast programme of contests and competitions.

The first edition of Finale Ligure’s FLOW Outdoor Festival has proved a unanimous and wide success.
The trend set by this event is innovative. The idea of combining two of the biggest sport events in the region – Finale For Nepal and FinalEnduro EWS – into a 10-day festival of the outdoor is irresistible, and it successfully accomplishes the feat of engaging the general public, business partners and local professionals alike.

Finale’s regions is fortunate to own some of the most beautiful and famous crags in the world and trails of comparable value are available to mountain-bikers, but there is more. When moist air moves over mountains, it is forced upwards and the fall in temperature condenses the moisture creating clouds and rainfall. It will ultimately flow, crystalline, into the Ligurian sea, carving caves and shaping mountains to create an amusement park for caving enthusiasts and trail runners.
“The wealth of natural resources in the region is something nobody can buy;” Riccardo Negro of Finale Outdoor Resort tells us “it is what brings together all of us, professionals of the outdoor industry, and it is also what draws here sport people and researchers. It is the very essence of FLOW Outdoor Festival’s success”.

An estimated 25,000 people visited the area during the event, with more than 1,100 pro athletes getting together from nearly 40 countries worldwide to take part in a programme of 7 different competitions. The images of the public attending the finals of the International bouldering Best Trick competition in Porta Testa or trackside along ‘DH Uomini’, the last racetrack of the Enduro World Championship, are travelling around the world via social media. They speak for themselves, showing a huge turnout and the tremendous appeal that these disciplines hold for the enthusiasts.

Finalborgo e il lungomare di Finalmarina hanno ospitato il grande e coloratissimo Villaggio Evento, di anno in anno sempre più ricco e partecipato con gli stand delle aziende sponsor Vibram, Bluegrass, La Sportiva, Sram, Scarpa, Fiveten, Ferrino, Mammut, Bosch, E9, Coop, Montura e altri 55 brand impegnati con diverse iniziative di coinvolgimento del pubblico e con attività di test materiali, esposizione prodotti, assistenza agli atleti e altro ancora.

Finalborgo and Finalmarina’s seafront hosted the big and colourful Event Village, with the stands of sponsors such as Vibram, Bluegrass, La Sportiva, Sram, Scarpa, Fiveten, Ferrino, Mammut, Bosch, E9, Coop, Montura and 55 other brands, at work on several initiatives to engage the public, with gear tests and demos, product displays, athlete support and much more.
The programme of the event, packed with no less than 42 activities over 10 days, spanned a wide range of disciplines, at different levels: rock climbing, mountain biking, mountaineering and bike mountaineering, trail running, bikepacking, sailing, trekking, caving and slacklining.
All these activities were closely supervised by experts who, with great amazement at times, found themselves working with a public of novices or people coming from other sectors of the outdoor world. And for the public, plenty of unforgettable experiences: the first descent in a cave, the first sailing trip, not to mention the first abseil from a height of over 70 meters; FLOW has been all of this, kind of ritual of initiation that nobody will ever forget.

Much space has also been given to meetings and conferences, sport activities for adults and kids, experienced and novices, and of course to the great show offered by high-level competitions, attended by the big names of the international scene.
With the passing of days FLOW kept changing and moving: from the unique narrow streets and historic buildings of Finalborgo to the foot of the crags, and to the shores and beaches of the Ligurian sea. Just like a journey of discovery from the mountains to the sea.

How could we talk ‘outdoor’ within the walls of an exhibition hall? How could we share a sport experience with friends and professionals without being in close contact with nature?
Emotions and personal growth are important parts of this. Together with natural setting and all services available on the ground, they constitute the foundations of Finale Ligure’s FLOW Festival. An event that is already inviting all enthusiasts to the 2018 edition!