Bedford River Festival brings 'positivity' to town

Art, music, food, drink, performances, and numerous sporting events, will all take place during Saturday and Sunday

More than 300,000 people are expected to attend a popular two-day river festival that was threatened with being scrapped.

The Bedford River Festival will be held on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July.

Rachel Atkinson, who has organised a vegan area at the festival, called the Green Earth Village, said the "incredible" event has "enormous positive effects on local businesses".

Bedford Borough Council, which runs the event, said it "brings in significant visitors" which is a "boost for the local economy".

The Green Earth Village, just one part of the festival, will be located by the town's Castle Mound, close to the Embankment

Ms Atkinson said the free event, which is held every two years, keeps on "getting bigger and better".

"It's incredible, it's forward thinking, it's the second largest free event in the UK after Notting Hill Carnival and it puts Bedford on the map.

"It just brings people to the town and they're going to see what is a lovely part of Bedford and it encourages people to visit the town again, which has enormous positive effects on local businesses."

Lots of water based activities take place at the River Festival, including paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing

Richard Harpham, from Canoe Trail, who is running the water sports arena with his wife Ashley Kenlock, said he has been involved with the event, which started in 1978, "for as long as I can remember".

"The jewel in the crown, the heartbeat of Bedford is the River Great Ouse," he said.

"We're incredibly proud of Bedford, proud of the river and proud to be part of showcasing something that is very historical and meaningful."

Desiree Bas tells stories of cultural identity, combining art and dance with different languages

Desiree Bas, an Italo-Iranian linguist, artist, author, illustrator and dancer, will be running multilingual storytelling and dance sessions.

"What sets us Bedfordians further apart is the diversity of languages available," she said.

"At the river festival there will be opportunities to meaningfully harness this diversity through multicultural and multilingual activities, workshops, and more."

Activities are planned for all ages up and down the River Great Ouse and mostly held along the town's Embankment

Last year the Conservative elected mayor of Bedford, Tom Wootton, said the event, that takes places up and down the River Great Ouse, in Bedford, was to be replaced with an annual family festival, but that decision was reversed.

The council said it generates more than £6m for the local economy and a new family area had been created in St Mary's Garden, by Bedford College.

Boats travel up and down the river, over two days, with an illuminated boat parade taking place on Saturday between 22:00 and 22:30 BST