Bakewell is held at the beginning of July. Rugby union is played regularly in the town by Bakewell Mannerians RUFC, who currently compete in Midlands 2 East (North). The town is represented by two football teams, Bakewell Red Lion FC and Bakewell Town FC; both compete in the Hope Valley Football League. Bakewell has a large recreation park to the east of the town centre, which has tennis courts, children's playground, and football/cricket pitches. In the town itself, and located near to the library, is the municipal swimming pool and gym. Alongside the River Wye is a popular riverside walk. Bakewell
Bakewell was the focus of attention during the Stephen Downing case, which involved the conviction and imprisonment in 1974 of a 17-year-old council worker, Stephen Downing, for the murder of a 32-year-old legal secretary in Bakewell Cemetery. Following a campaign by a local newspaper, his conviction was overturned in 2002, after Downing had served 27 years in prison. The case is thought to be the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, and attracted worldwide media attention. Bakewell is mentioned by Elizabeth Bennet as the town from which she travelled to visit Pemberley, in ch. 43 of Jane Austen's "Pride