The Wet Web
TWENTY-five years is a landmark moment by anyone’s standard, but the Thames Festival – known in recent years as Totally Thames – is making very little fuss about its 25th anniversary in September.
“It’s meaningful to us,” said director Adrian Evans, who founded the festival in 1997, “but not necessarily to anyone else.”
Adrian had been involved in river events for many years when he began to feel there was room for something bigger. “It was something that London really needed – the sort of event the capital can feel proud of.”
Originally a weekend of events along the river between Westminster and Tower Bridge, Totally Thames now runs for the whole of September each year, along the 42-mile stretch from Hampton Court to west of the Dartford Crossing. Events reflect the character of the different areas.
“That’s the wonder of the river,” said Adrian. “I can’t think of another capital city in the world that enjoys such variety of river landscape.”
This year a major feature will be the mudlarking talks and exhibitions, which underscore this very point. Visitors will be able to see the artefacts retrieved along different parts of the river, and speak to the mudlarkers who are, on the whole, very enthusiastic amateur archaeologists. “It’s a tangible way that you can see life lived through the ages, with a much more visceral contact with the past,” he added.
Adrian is reluctant to judge how much influence the Thames Festival might have had over the years on how we view our rivers, but it certainly coincides with an increased appreciation of the riverside. “In 1997, there was a very, very different approach to rivers than there is now,” he said. “The sensitivity of riverside developments has changed – they used to turn their back on the river. Now it’s the reverse. I do think that more and more developers value public access to the riverside.”
While much about the festival celebrates the Thames and London, there are also national and international threads that run through the year. In conjunction with the British Council, Thames Festival Trust supports arts- based school projects in at least 35 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as across the UK.
This year, linking schools around the world, is Rivers of Hope. The project used art activities to encourage children to think about safeguarding their natural environment and 200 silk flags were created from the resulting work. These were first seen as part of the Jubilee procession in June and will be displayed at the National Maritime Museum from September 26 to October 30. All the artwork can be found on the festival website.
Problems with drought and flooding have helped to increase interest in the trust’s educational resources. “People see their river as a barometer for climate change,” said Adrian. “We’re keen that our educational work keeps pace. There are sustainability messages that it’s vital to adhere to and to invest knowledge in the children.”
For visitors, though, Totally Thames is an opportunity to enjoy spectacles such as the Platinum Jubilee flotilla, laden with white lights, leaving from Chelsea on September 24 in a twilight sailing, the annual Great River Race on September 10, as well as walks, talks, choir events and exhibitions.
“What we do in London is something that could equally be done in any city, town or village,” said Adrian. “Over the years we’ve helped to nurture river events. We help where people reach out and say, ‘We’d really like to do something similar.’ We give whatever advice they ask for and nurture development.”
Indeed, if you think your area would blossom with a river festival, Adrian would be delighted to help. Contact him via the website where you can also find information on all the festival events (thamesfestivaltrust.org).