Enjoy a festival afloat this summer
A series of exciting canalside events are taking place over the summer holidays, so enjoy some festival fun afloat on your next canal boat holiday. From small-scale village festivals to world-class city attractions, here are our top five:
The Llangollen Eisteddfod, 9-14 July
The International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen on the Llangollen Canal is one of the world’s great musical events, bringing a fiesta of music, language, dance and colour and attracting thousands of people from around the world.
Six days of world-class competitions and concerts will end with a spectacular fireworks display.
Our nearest canal boat hire bases are at Trevor (just two hours away), Chirk (three hours away) and Blackwater Meadow (eight hours away).
IWA National Festival, 19-21 July
The Inland Waterway’s 2013 National Festival will take place at Cassiobury Park on the Grand Union Canal in Watford. Crafts, food, real ale and boats galore (both new and used) will help to make this a festival to remember. The entertainment will include a flypast by a World War II Spitfire (circumstances permitting), a Victorian fairground, plus song and dance throughout.
Our nearest narrowboat holiday hire base is nine hours away on the Grand Union Canal in West London.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2-26 August
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival with more than 2,800 shows and 24,000 performers bringing their work to 270 venues across the city. Among the shows with the broadest appeal is a stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption, based on the book that inspired the cult movie, starring comedian Omid Djilili and Dad’s Army’s Ian Lavender. Taggart star Blythe Duff will perform in Ciara, a new play by David Harrower, and Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan stars in the premiere of Dark Vanilla Jungle by Philip Ridley. Big name comedians vying for audiences include Al Murray, Alexei Sayle, Sandi Toksvig, Ardal O’Hanlon, David Baddiel, Lucy Porter, Sean Hughes and Susan Calman.
Our base at the Falkirk Wheel on the junction of the Union and Forth & Clyde canals is an 11-hour cruise away. Visitor moorings can be found at Edinburgh Quay, just five minutes from Princes Street in the city centre.
Cropredy Music Festival, 8-10 August
The annual Fairport’s Cropredy Convention takes place in the village of Cropredy, on the Oxford Canal near Banbury.
Widely acclaimed as the ultimate celebration of folk-rock, increasingly the tens of thousands of music-loving folkies who invade the normally tranquil village of Cropredy in North Oxfordshire for three days each August, are treated to a more eclectic range of music. Festival founders and rock-folk originators Fairport Convention are still the principal headliners, but the bill this year includes several distinctly non-folk performers, including the original shock-rocker Alice Cooper, 10cc, Levellers and Nik Kershaw.
Our nearest bases are at Oxford (seven hours away) and Napton (10 hours away).
Blisworth Canal Festival, 10-11 August
During the Blisworth Canal Festival, the village waterfront will be full of trade boats and stalls selling everything from cheese to boat oil. Two trip boats will be operating and the Funion Bargee will provide free supervised play sessions for children. Seven village venues will offer a variety of exciting attractions including pony rides, a master blacksmith, a ‘have-a-go bell-tower!’, a variety of food outlets, wood carving, laser arena, bars, rural craft demonstrations, companion dog show, vintage caravans, WWII re-enactment, children’s fairground, chicken display, art gallery and Bistro. And on the Sunday, 10 local gardens will be open. There will also be free heritage walks and longer guided rambles, plus free live music to enjoy.
Our nearest base is round the corner at Gayton, or 12 hours away at Rugby.
