Used to go to it and a few friends used to help out for free tickets for certain events. It is usually in November, usually a mild November not that you'd know that with all the high altitude down jacketed southerners you'd see up for the festival. Locals walking past puffer jacketed wearing t-shirt and shaving their heads. Lol!
It's good but not as good as it was before it really blew up as a big attraction event. Loads of venues and events. Climbers, mountaineers through to just adventurers, multi mode travellers and kayakers of various styles. Plus a few brands selling off end of lines or samples of cheaply. Later to be more expensive than you can find in local outdoor shops after it became popular event.
Not been to a event in it for over a decade but I'm sure it's still part of the adventurer / mountaineer talk circuit, you'll still get the big British names, whoever they are these days, doing a talk selling their book!
Cynical! Moi?! Lol!