This September, join in with mudlarks, environmentalists and artists to celebrate the river at this year’s Totally Thames festival. This year’s event has been cleverly reimagined for a socially-distanced audience, with events taking place both outdoors and online.
An antidote to these gloomy times, this year’s festival promises to be an uplifting celebration of the river with events to bring us together. As part of this year’s reimagined festival, there will be an online hub offering an eclectic programme of river-themed cultural events and activities.
Totally Thames is a month-long celebration, bringing together artists and authors as well as mudlarks, anglers, kayakers, hikers and environmentalists. This year’s creative mix of outdoor and digital events will enable everyone to enjoy the festival safely.
Quirky highlights at this year’s festival include a musical meander down the river with sea shanties, an audio treasure hunt and Mudlark’s Feast, a sensory experience with aromatic river finds and a taste of the past. Take a magical moonlit journey with Epoh Beech’s The Masque of Blackness or enjoy a self-guided immersive trip along the Fantastical Fleet.
The main festival highlight, Rivers of the World, has been created by artists working remotely with students from across the globe. The river-themed artworks have been created by young people from London, Coventry, Peterborough, Halton, Warrington and Stockton-on-Tees in the UK and from Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Lebanon, and India.
These remarkable artworks show young people’s strength of spirit and creativity in the face of Covid-19, and will be exhibited on boards and flags on the riverside walkway next to the Tate Modern.
Other festival events will include tours, walks, talks, performances, virtual games, exhibitions and workshops, all exploring the river’s history, its ability to inspire and our environmental impact on it. Basically, there’s something for everyone, so why not pop along or join in online?
When: 1st – 30th September 2020
Where: At various locations along the Thames and online.
£: Ticket prices vary depending on the event. Many events are free
More info: thamesfestivaltrust.org