Waterside Festival is lucky to be hosted around Aylesbury’s revitalised canalside public space, and with the day of festivity fast approaching, Saturday 14 September 11am-5.30pm, let’s take a moment to appreciate the huge amount of support received from Waterside Festival partners! Before last year’s festival splashed onto the scene, Aylesbury’s canal basin was a little-known gem, but now it begins a new chapter in its history with a diverse mix of partners offering an exciting selection of stalls.
Coinciding with Heritage Open Weekend, what better way to celebrate the canal basin’s rich 200 year history than visit the Holy Trinity Church at their stand? Discover photographs and stories of the area through the decades, all the while enjoying scrumptious homemade cakes!
Continue the stroll through Aylesbury’s waterway heritage by joining The Aylesbury Society and Aylesbury Town Council for an historical walk along the towpath. ‘Hear the History of the Canal’ and while away an hour listening to tales of old, when the waterways were full of cargo coming in and agricultural products going out! Aylesbury’s canal basin is now a haven for walkers and wildlife alike, and Waterside Festival is delighted to be sharing its historic surroundings with festival-goers this year.
Bringing the canalside space into the present, visit Bucks New University at its Aylesbury campus, which will be open all day to offer a range of course-related activities and guided tours. Speak to lecturers and students about the courses available in Aylesbury and at the university’s other sites in High Wycombe and Uxbridge, or relax in the newly-opened Basin Café just inside the rear entrance; perfect for watching the world go by during the festival’s main events.
Ian Harper, Chief Executive of Bucks New University’s Aylesbury Campus commented:
“We enjoy a fantastic canalside location and are delighted to be part of this year’s Waterside Festival, where we will offer people the chance to step inside our campus and see what we do. The Festival comes at an exciting time for us as we have added a range of new facilities, including simulation wards for Nursing students which are similar to those you would find in hospitals, and hubs to support small and medium-sized digital businesses to develop and grow. We will also have details of courses people can study through Bucks New University, and visitors will be able to step in to the cockpit in a flight simulator and enjoy an immersive experience in our ‘Simulate Your Future’ mobile unit, showing how a patient is treated following an accident. The Festival is a great way to celebrate Aylesbury’s canal heritage and we’re excited to help build on the success of last year’s inaugural event and show how our campus is growing.”
Andrew Henderson, representing Holy Trinity Church added: “It was great to celebrate our links with the Waterside area, past and present – and to help build a strong community spirit.”
Waterside Festival would like to thank all its partners who are kindly providing a variety of stalls and activities for families to enjoy. This is a fantastic opportunity for festival-goers to see all of the hard work partners do for the local community. There’s backstage tours of Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (book here to avoid disappointment), a tombola from the Buckinghamshire WI as well as garden games supplied by Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) and Aylesbury Town Council, which features a merry-go-round, swing boats, hopscotch and more – the list goes on! With so much to see and do, this year promises to blow last year’s Waterside Festival out of the water and it’s thanks to the help of each and every partner, without which this wonderful event would not be possible.
Waterside Festival is a non-profit community event sponsored by Aylesbury Garden Town and co-ordinated by Aylesbury Town Centre Partnership. For more information and to see a full list of Waterside Festival partners, please visit: www.watersidefestival.org.