Bedford River Festival

29 Jul

Written By Boatwif

Countdown: with one day to go preparations continued during Friday for the Bedford River Festival weekend. Council vehicles, white vans, delivery trucks – all sorts of vehicles – eased their way across the bridge over the weir just behind Cleddau's mooring.Stalls and marquees were being stocked with items to buyand info to take away.Boaters set up encampmentsand transformed their boats into pirate vessels…A train of canoes (37 in all) was towed along the river towards the Sports Island area.Visitors strolled by, several pausing to take photographs and ask questions.The Welsh dragon flag and bunting had been spotted from the other side of the river.A South Wales mother and her now Bedford resident daughter opened conversation. It followed the familiar course of flags, Wales, Pembrokeshire and got to the mother’s role as trustee and volunteer on a Swansea based community boat, Copper Jack. . If you’re near Swansea and looking for a short boat trip this might be for you…Jennie, former First Mate on nb Tentatrice, arrived to while away the afternoon bankside. On board Cleddau the Captain showered the galley with flour to make Welsh cakes and American brownies.By 6pm it was if a broad stage had been set for a piece of water-based theatre; within just a few hours the 2022 River Festival would be open for business, for thrill and pleasure-seekers, for visitors, for competitors, for participants...The River FestivalA stroll over Bedford’s Town Bridge (in search of a Saturday newspaper) revealed a changed townscape. A red bus displayed a cheery sign (HAVE A NICE DAY!) deckchairs were ready for a brass band(here's Hitchin Band playing on Sunday),classic cars were arranged around the John Howard statue more of them stretching up the High Street. Top thrill though was this: a C reg VW split windscreen campervan – aah, memories of LYS 830E in the late 70s /early 80s…Back by the river the action was beginning – a dance group on the Embankment,men walking over water,crowds surging towards music venues and special interest demonstrations.Dress code for the day – well, anything goes, especially if it related to piracy and maritime endeavour… Early afternoon the boat parades started, led by the Harbour Master,his boat followed by the Mayor’s launch,each parade involving two circuits of the route between the two bridges. There was no shortage of pirate hats, skull and cross bone flags or cutlasses. Even the skipper of the John Bunyan trip boat was wearing a pirate’s tricorn.How long does it take to transform a river cruiser into a galleon of the high sea?The Viking Kayak Club nobly toiled their way along the course…As the afternoon drew on so the crowds grew, squeezing and jostling their way across the various bridges. Just in time additional crew arrived for the narrowboat parade. By no means was this the first time for neighbour Margaret to be Cleddau’s figurehead…See below for some photos from her son’s camera.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHG04f1h7zk[/embed]Crowds lined both sides of the riverMore a widebeam than a narrowboat – but a magnificent disguise as a pirate boat!Between the daytime boat parades there were polite requests to “see inside your boat”,numerous questions about the capability of the solar panels, the extent of the canals and rivers, discussions about flags and bunting. In a non-stop party atmosphere just a few of those who took up seats in one gazebo or another were Jennie and Chris, formerly of nb Tentatrice, Pip and Mick, continuous cruisers from Oleanna, plus friend Heather, village neighbours, fellow Health and Wellness walkers, the Academic and four friends…While music lovers may have been mobbing the Russell Park stages, along the river swimmers and paddleboarders competed for glory (or the relief of reaching the finish line…)Darkness fell and illuminations were switched on.Those boat skippers of cruisers and narrowboats confident in their ability to avoid other vessels on the congested waters cruised two more circuits of the upper river route. It was a weekend of nonstop talk. Cleddau was moored in a high visibility spot - and (inevitably?) there were some Monkton Moments*. What a joy it is to meet someone who remembered the Cleddau Queen and Cleddau King ferry boats (and who returned the next day to talk some more), someone else whose Welsh language schooling remains with her in Bedford “when I’m doing my Maths” and a contemporary at Aberystwyth University of the Captain (“Remember Ffred Ffrancis?”) whose conversation opened with Bosherston and potatoes…And it all happened again on Sunday – crowds, street vendors,bagpipes,water walkers,kiddies’ fun, exercise class, shade seekers,kayakers, boat parades, boat visitors, raft races… While the above was Boatwif’s experience of the River Festival, see Pip of nb Oleanna’s 2 posts for a much broader perspective and some excellent photographs.It might have taken a chunk of time for Cleddau to reach Bedford (3 months) a large chunk of time to dress the boat in her festival finery (about 7 hours) and an equally large chunk of time to dismantle it all, but was it worth it? Yes, absolutely yes, for the joy of seeing so many thousands of people having a great time, for that feeling of joyful reconnection after the isolation of the pandemic, it being four long years since the last River Festival in 2018, and for the vast range of activities and displays on offer.Well done Bedford for an enormous festival that was wide-ranging and thoroughly inclusive, Well done indeed!