Each year London holds a celebration of its splendid river at the free Thames Festival, complete with fireworks, live music, and a boat parade.
Mid-September in London is when summer begins to come to a close, and the long warm days start to slowly change into the golden evenings of autumn. However, when it comes to festivals, London’s summer season goes out with a bang and not a whimper. The Mayor of London’s Thames Festival is the English capital’s largest outdoor arts festival, bringing together Londoners and visitors of all ages to celebrate the city’s culture and its iconic river.
What the Festivities Will Bring
The Thames Festival will be a showcase for the huge cultural influences and vast array of talent that can be found in the city of London. The outdoor spaces that line the River Thames will be filled with performers delivering live music, dancing and more. There will also be art demonstrations, races along the river, and massed choirs. Plenty of food will be on hand so that you can nourish your hunger as well as your creative spirit.
On the final day of the festival, a surreal mood will come over the banks of the Thames as a magical Night Carnival lights up the evening with bright colours and strange sounds. The parade will wind along the south and north banks, until the finale of a fireworks display right in the centre of the river itself.
The theme for this year’s event is “Fish”. Guests are recommended to check out the delicious dishes at the Forgotten Fish Restaurant, and watch the fish-related films that will be screening at the Cycle Cinema.
A life-sized skeletal wreck of a ship will be built in front of City Hall, and a flotilla of over 100 historical boats will parade down the River Thames. There will also be a period-dress rally of historical characters, and a chance to buy traditional nautical themed crafts and artwork.
The Thames Festival will also feature some fantastic free live music. 2011’s concert line-up for the Thames Festival includes some of the best names in London’s underground music scene as well as some hip DJs, so there will be a lot of dancing in the September sunshine.
Who is Involved
The Thames Festival is a favourite event among Londoners and visitors alike, as it provides a fabulous free weekend of arts and entertainment and generates a lively and celebratory atmosphere all along this area of central London.
The event is produced by the Mayor of London, London Boroughs and the London Arts Council. It will be held of all riverside walkways, roads, bridges, and docks of the River Thames, from Tower Bridge all the way to Westminster Bridge. The festivities are delivered by the Thames Festival Trust.
Getting There
London is served by a total of five airports, and is the most connected city in the world when it comes to international flights, so you will have plenty of choice when booking your journey to London. Most international visitors will arrive at LHR and in order to explore the UK will look to hire a rental car at Heathrow airport to have the freedom to go where they want when they want to and not rely on the UK’s public transport infrastructure.