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Two-day Canal Festival brings thousands to Banbury’s waterside
02/10/2023
The weekend celebrated the part the canal played in the town’s history
Fun lovers packed Banbury’s waterside at the weekend as thousands of families enjoyed the town’s annual canal festival.
Entertainment and excitement for people of all ages was on the menu, with boat trips, a floating market, funfair rides, non-stop live music and an indoor market proving popular attractions.
The Sealed Knot (the oldest re-enactment company in the UK) showed how legions of the King’s forces in the 1640s were controlled with messages passed by drum beats. Demonstrations of loading and firing muskets and a canon rocked Bridge Street Park to the sound of loud explosions of igniting gunpowder.
Alongside the canal Banbury Folk Club provided music to an appreciative audience in the General Foods Social Club garden. On the opposite side of the canal jazz entertained those enjoying the hospitality at Tooley’s boatyard.
Next to the canal in Chamberlain Court, energetic dance displays by the Sonia Sabri company thrilled onlookers and wide choice of food and drink stalls meant no-one went home hungry or thirsty.
The festival also celebrated the history of the canal and reminded visitors that the waterway, which opened in 1778, was an important chapter in the town’s development. It brought goods and trade and created jobs and wealth.
Tooley’s Boatyard opened with the canal in 1778. Festival visitors this weekend saw the yard’s original forge in action, alongside demonstrations of different types of engines, a history of the site and live performances in the dry dock.
The Canal Festival was organised by Banbury Town Council and opened by Town Mayor Fiaz Ahmed, who arrived by narrowboat on Saturday morning.
He said: “It was a wonderful weekend. It was a fantastic festival and thousands of people enjoyed the many attractions. There was lots of excitement and a little bit of history that increased people’s knowledge of the town in which they live.”
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Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam