THIS YEAR’S St Richard’s Canal Festival gets under way today in Vines Park, Droitwich and runs until May Day bank holiday Monday, May 4.
The four-day extravaganza is organised by the Worceter to Birmingham and Droitwich Canal Society, in conjunction with Wychavon District Council and Droitwich Town Council.
It begins at 5pm this evening (Friday, May 1) and runs until 11pm tonight.
Then tomorrow and Sunday (May 2 and 3), the fun starts at 10am and runs until 11pm.
And on Monday, May 4, the event takes place between 10am and 5pm.
Throughout the weekend there will be a number of highlights:
Highlights of the festival will include:
Boating
Narrowboats and trading boats moored up for the weekend on the canal in Vines Park.
The ‘Pamela May’ narrowboat operating trips from Vines Park along the canal throughout the weekend with the all new Pamela May II.
There will be model boats on display and demonstrations on the canal.
Picture by Marcus Mingins 1822003MMR3 copyright Bullivant MediaLive Entertainment and Real Ale Bar
There will be plenty of live entertainment on offer throughout the weekend, including local choirs, groups and soloists on the stage in the marquee.
There is also a ‘real ale and cider’ bar throughout the weekend with a wide selection of beers and ciders.
Activities
There will be plenty to do to entertain both adults and children throughout the festival.
Community Stalls and Activities
A selection of community stalls with plenty of advice, activities and fundraising, ‘have a go activities’ and a Fun Dog Show on Bank Holiday Monday, 11am start.
Well Blessing
On Saturday morning, there will be the annual ‘Blessing the Upwich Brine Pit’ and procession.
Duck Race
One of the main highlights of St Richard’s Canal Festival in previous years has been the annual ‘Great Droitwich Duck Race’.
This will take place on the Bank Holiday Monday afternoon at 4.30pm.
The ducks make their way down the River Salwarpe, in Vines Park, in an exciting race to the finish.
Tickets are priced at £1 each with fantastic cash prizes on offer.
Find out more by visiting the website: www.strichardsfestival.co.uk or the dedicated Facebook page: www.facebook.com/srcfdroitwich
The history of Richard de Wyche and the Droitwich Brine
Richard de Wyche was born around 1197 near Droitwich, and became Bishop of Chichester in 1244.
He was well known for his religion and beliefs, and miracles were attributed to him.
When the Droitwich Spa brine dried up sometime between 1247 and 1249 he travelled back to the town to bless the springs and it was said that caused the brine to start flowing again.
He was canonised in 1262 and St Richard’s Day was celebrated in Droitwich by decorating the brine pits with flowers annually on April 3 for many years.
The Droitwich Barge Canal was built to carry salt from Droitwich down to the Severn and completed in 1771, and the Junction Canal was constructed in 1853/4 to try to revive the canal trade which had been eroded by the development of the railways. Both canals were abandoned in 1939.
A campaign to restore the canals was initiated by the late Max Sinclair in the late 1960s and soon the Droitwich Canal Trust was formed.
In 1973 work began on restoring the two canals.
In 2001, as part of the Trust’s fund-raising campaign, annual summer water festivals in Vines Park were arranged, on the already restored canal in Vines Park, and in 2006 there was also a revival of the celebration of St Richard’s Day with a well dressing. From 2008 the two events were combined and held on the first Saturday in May.
The canals were fully restored in 2011 (all the way from Hanbury down to the River Severn). In 2013 the Festival was extended to become St Richard’s Festival extending over the whole weekend with events in the town centre as well as in Vines Park.
Over the years that followed, Wychavon District Council became one of the main organisers of the event with more and more input from, among others, the Worcester-Birmingham and Droitwich Canals Society.
In 2016 a decision was made by the council to re-focus the festival back into Vines Park for 2017 and to step back on their involvement in the main organising of the event.
This saw the Worcester-Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society successfully take over as the main organisers for the festival with the helpful support of the District and Town Councils and others.
This all-weekend (free entry) family event is attended by thousands of people every year in and around Droitwich Spa and surrounding areas.
