Linslade Canal Festival 2010

This FREE community event attracted a record number of visitors to Tiddenfoot Waterside Park who enjoyed not only the picturesque setting but also the diverse attractions on offer.  As well as promoting local conservation and heritage projects, the festival also showcases canal art and crafts, traditional rural and handmade crafts, the work of local businesses and organisations, local musicians as well as providing fundraising opportunities for local charities.

Visitors to the festival are able to watch first hand the traditional skills of rural crafters such as bee skep making, besom broom making, basket weaving, spar making, country chair making, and new to this year’s event, love spoon making.  

Over 100 exhibitors offered a divers range of goods for sale ranging from jewellery to hand painted canalware, plants to wooden gifts and handmade cards to teddy bears.

Children’s entertainment included a puppet show, Roses Old Time Amusements and face painting as well as the very popular local Birds of Bray, sponsored by Ark House Veterinary Surgery. For the older kids, various activities were organised by BuzzCycling and for the vintage vehicle aficionado, the Old FARTS once again provided a colourful display of vintage tractors.

A programme of musical entertainment took place in the main arena throughout the day and included performances from Andy Collier, belly dancing troupe, Cairo Cats, The Drum Circle and local folk group, “Beats Working”.    

The large number of working, pleasure & trade narrow boats that attended are always a colourful attraction and this year was no different, as a larger number of visitors than ever before were able to use the permanent footbridge to cross from the park to the canal towpath.  Grebe Canal Cruises gave visitors the opportunity to enjoy the canal and its environment with pleasure boat trips throughout the day.

For further information about the Linslade Canal Festival please contact the Events Officer on 01525 631916 or e-mail: gill.miller@leightonlinslade-tc.gov.uk