Droitwich Canals open Friday

Published: Thursday, 30 June 2011

THE official opening of the Droitwich Canals will take place at Vines Park in the town on Friday 1st July.

To celebrate the opening Vines Park will play host to a Water Festival and organisers are promising a bumper weekend. Highlight of the weekend will be the huge display of canal and working boats on the waterway.

Opening Ceremony

Festivities start with the Opening Ceremony with the arrival of VIP guests by boat at 2pm. The unveiling of the plaque will take place just before 3pm, followed by a flotilla of boats and canoes passing along the canal.

During the opening event, visitors will also have a chance to browse the various trade and canal information stalls. A real ale bar opens from 5pm and there will be live music from 7pm. The headline act for the evening is The Cohen Brothers, who will be on stage at 8.30pm playing a mixture of blues, rock and jazz.

Saturday

The festivities on Saturday start at 10am when craft, trade and information stalls open to the public. This will be accompanied by a peel of bells rung by St. Augustine's Church.

There will be plenty on offer during the day, including trips on the Droitwich Canal Trust's trip boat Pamela May, canoe taster sessions and guided walks to Hanbury Wharf, Dodderhill Tower and the nature reserve at Salwarpe.

Boat parade

The Fire Service will be giving rescue demonstrations on the canal at 11am and 3pm and there will be a boat parade at 1pm. An afternoon of live music in the beer tent starts at lunchtime.

The hard work of the volunteers who were involved with the canal restoration will be recognised with the unveiling of a plaque at 12.30pm.

Evening events start at 7.30pm, with Sam Holmes on stage in the Beer Tent followed by Meet on the Ledge playing folk and rock. The evening finishes with a firework display at 10.30pm.

Sunday

Sunday's festivities open at 10am with a similar range of stalls and activities on offer. A key feature of the day will be the Activity Zone at Netherwich Basin offering archery, angling demonstrations, canoeing, cycle agility trail, battle zone and guided cycle rides.

Jazz fans will be well catered for, with Tom Hill's Straightjackets playing in the Beer Tent over lunchtime, and the Worcester Youth Jazz Orchestra in Lido Park at 2.30pm.

Finale

The finale of the weekend's festivities will be an evening of live music in the Beer Tent starting at 7pm, with popular Irish folk group Roving Crows appearing at 8.30pm.

The Water Festival coincides with the annual Droitwich Spa Music and Arts Festival, and on Saturday 2nd July there will be live performances in the town centre.

David Wheeler, from Droitwich Canals Trust, explains:

"The opening of the Droitwich Canals is the culmination of 38 years' hard work by volunteers and more than 11 years by the Droitwich canals restoration partnership."

[There will be no updates during Friday as narrowboatworld has been invited to attend the opening ceremony at Droitwich, with a report on Saturday.]