Nottingham’s biggest event of the summer, the annual Riverside Festival is set to return to the banks of the River Trent this weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday 4, 5 and 6 August).
Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the three-day event.
Victoria Embankment will enjoy a fantastic free line-up of live music alongside street food, markets and craft fair, a massive fun fair, children’s and sports try-out zones (including badminton, table tennis, archery, mini-tennis, golf and cricket), plus dragon boat racing and the charity duck race on the river. The ever-popular fireworks display will end the evening on Saturday at 10.30pm.
Live music across three stages includes acid jazz and funk from Saturday night headliners Freak Power, plus many more artists including folk, world music and jazz plus the best in new Nottingham bands.
Highlights on this year’s Folk Stage include the charismatic talent of Cupola:Ward with Lucy Ward winner of the 2012 Horizon Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ and 2014 ‘Folk Singer of the Year’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar (winners of the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award), as well as Sam Kelly (BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner) & the Lost Boys will ensure truly memorable performances.
World music fans will love the offering on the Monument Stage which includes lively performances from Dev Joshi, Zee Guveya, Son Yambu and Zong Zing Allstars.
The Jazz stage will get jazz fans up and dancing with the programme highlight set to be an energetic performance by Nottingham Jazz Orchestra with seventeen musicians and big band sound to close the festival.
In the Children’s Zone area, a full programme of creative fun wi
ll be on 12 – 8pm Saturday and 12 – 6pm Sunday including the creation of a tree installation, puppet theatre, clay flower and festival hat making and building your own kite. Nottingham Playhouse will be in the Children’s Zone with a panto dame reading fairy tales for little ones in the magical Cinderella-themed den, as well as the chance to win tickets to the Playhouse Christmas panto. There will also be circus skills workshops and a Nottinghamshire Scouts activity area.
Exciting Dragon Boat racing will take place on Sunday 6 August along the river between 11am – 4pm (approximately). The annual charity rubber duck race will also take place on Sunday at 4.30pm.
Following Saturday night’s fireworks display, Nottingham City Transport will run a shuttle bus service from the Trent Bridge end of the site to get people back into the city centre along with a Hackney Cab rank in the same area.
Car parking is available at a cost of £6 per car per day with entrance via Riverside Way, off Queens Drive. To plan your journey visit www.traveline.info
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “This is my favourite event in the city and we’re expecting big numbers this year. We’re immensely proud as a city council to be putting on fantastic free events such as Riverside Festival for the people of Nottingham to enjoy. With such a varied and packed programme of things to do for everyone, this year’s festival is sure to be a massive success and a really fun weekend.”