The annual Shrewsbury River Festival, now in its fourth year, is taking place in the Quarry Park and on the River Severn in Shrewsbury today.
The Festival is a great free family day out, offering a range of entertainment including a raft race, various demonstrations on the river and in the Quarry, coracles, canoeing, trade and food stalls, children’s mediaeval fancy dress and other competitions, as well as live entertainment.
The theme for this year’s Festival is ‘Historic Battles’, and the event will feature the 1815 Battle of Waterloo and the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury. The organisers are lucky enough to have to have secured the services of two battle re-enactment groups for the day.
“There’s plenty to do for children of all ages at this year’s River Festival,” said Jenny Osborne of Henshalls Insurance, Festival sponsor and the member of the organisers committee.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing them all dressed up, either in mediaeval garb or as Alice in Wonderland characters.”
The festival’s raft race will see teams following challenging new rules that will stretch even the most determined competitors. Teams taking part include those entered by Morris Lubricants, Morris Leisure, three from Salop Leisure, Willmott Dixon, Greenhous, Gateley Waring, Multisol, Rea Valley Tractors, Tudor Griffiths, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Dentale.
Visitors to the Festival will get to see the teams building their rafts using exactly the same ration of barrels, pallets and rope in only one hour, then taking them to the start area. After being carried to a pontoon, launched and paddled upstream to collect a team member from the opposite riverbank, the rafts will then be paddled back downstream, where they’ll need to be hoisted onto a waiting lorry in order to complete the course.
“The new rules are going to make the course formidable for even the most seasoned raft-ers,” said Morris Lubricants’ Philip Gittins, Shrewsbury River Festival committee member and raft race organiser. “I have a feeling that many of the teams are going to need to practice their swimming beforehand!”
The event is promoted by the Shrewsbury & Shropshire Waterways & Leisure Group and supported by a number of organisations including Shrewsbury Town Football Club, Salop Leisure, Salop Computer Centre, Henshalls Insurance, Team Shrewsbury, Morris Lubricants, Shropshire Fire & Rescue, Willmott Dixon and the University of Shrewsbury.
The entertainment takes place between 10am-5pm on Sunday, 7 June 2015.
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