We'd like to invite you to help us celebrate the national parks extension areas by joining us to see in the new dawn over the newly extended Lake District National Park on its first day, August 1, 2016.

Friends of the Lake District led the campaign to see the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Parks extended. Monday 1 August 2016 is the historic day on which the new areas will officially become part of the national parks.

We're inviting you to come and celebrate by seeing in the new dawn over one of the new areas of the Lake District National Park, on Scout Scar, near Kendal. Local photographers and artists are also warmly invited to come and capture the first dawn over the new national park land.

Douglas Chalmers, chief executive:

This is a historic day and a very rare one – national park status is the highest level of legal protection our stunning landscapes can have and this hasn’t happened in Cumbria since the 1950’s, when some very beautiful land was left out of the national park boundaries and unprotected.

Friends of the Lake District has been campaigning for this day for a very long time. Please come and help us celebrate and record the moment.

Breakfast butties will be provided for anyone wishing to join the dawn celebrations – around 5.30am on Monday 1 August.

This is a free event but we would ask that you pre-register attendance so that catering can be arranged.

You can register online at https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/Event/dawn-over-the-lake-district-national-park or by contacting Alison Lax on 01539 720788 or email [email protected].

If 5.30am is a little early for you, there is a walk to explore the new southern extension to the national park on Wednesday, 3 August, at 10am at Brigsteer, see https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/Event/exploring-the-new-southern-extension-to-the-lake-district-national-park, and a walk in the eastern extension at Little Asby on Monday, 1 August, see https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/Event/the-long-view-members-walk - the Little Asby walk is for Friends members only.