Sunshone and crowds help to make Linslade’s annual canal festival a roaring success on Saturday.
The ever popular one-day Festival at Tiddenfoot Waterside Park celebrates and highlights canal life, conservation, the countryside and traditional rural crafts.
People were able to watch traditional craft demonstrators including stick makers, skep builders and wood carvers and local charities helped educate and inform visitors about their work within the natural environment.
Along the tow-path visitors delighted in the working, trade and pleasure boats which joined the event with members of Dunstable & District Boat Club offering visitors an insight into owning a pleasure boat and the joys of life on the waterways. Trade boats offered the chance to purchase handmade items, canal memorabilia and food items while Raymond & Nutfield returned to give a glimpse into the previous working life of boats on the canal.
Entertainment throughout the day was provided by local choirs, Wayland Smithy, Hemlock Morris, Sam & Ana, Andy Smythe & Leannán with the main stage kindly sponsored by Taylor Wimpey. Traders in the Paddocks area were joined by handcrafters and traditional demonstrators in the craft tent, with a traditional funfair providing entertainment for younger visitors.
In the lakeside area of the site storytelling, origami and mosaic workshops provided entertainment and enjoyment for visitors while the Birds of Prey delighted visitors in the Poplars area.
Leighton-Linslade Town Council would like to thank supporters and local charities who assisted with the event which include Canal & Rivers Trust, Friends of Tiddenfoot, The Greensand Trust, The Rotary Club of Leighton-Linslade and Central Bedfordshire Council.
3. Linslade Canal Festival
There was also an important message to share at the event about what to do if you spot someone in difficulty in the water. Photo: Tony Margiocchi
