Riverside Festival: 1 – 3 August 2008, Victoria Embankment

Nottingham City Council is proud to present our annual Riverside Festival in its unique setting on the beautiful banks of the River Trent.

This year’s Riverside Festival is extra special as it marks the beginning of Nottingham’s first ever Children’s Festival – a fun packed ten-day programme of arts and activities on the theme of ’Myths and Legends’ from all over the world. This new addition to Nottingham’s festival season will include, at the Riverside Festival, mask-making, dragon sculpture, dance workshops, glass painting and traditional arts from Africa and the Caribbean. There’ll also be a chance for grown ups to join in with dance classes from salsa to belly dancing as well as styles from across the globe.

Riverside Festival goers can also expect the usual heady mix of live roots and world music, street theatre, a bustling street fair, children’s arts zone and crafts and food from around the globe. This year’s music programme will be second-to-none with performances by artists including Bhangra stars Achanak (UK/India), making a return to Riverside after an astounding performance last year, the Laye Sow Band (Senegal), Grupo Fantasma (USA) and Transglobal Underground (UK) to mention just a few of the highlights.

Other favourites include comical street theatre, Old Tyme Gallopers and Organs, Traction and Steam Engines and Sunday’s Rotary Charity duck race, as well as the ever popular grand finale, a breath-taking firework display on Saturday night.

Councillor David Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Culture said: “This year is better than ever for free events in Nottingham, and we’re delighted to present the Riverside Festival once again. I hope that residents and visitors alike will come down to the Embankment to join us for a weekend of affordable entertainment and culture.”

Riverside Festival opening times are Friday 1 August: 6.30pm-10.30pm, Saturday 2 August: 12pm-11pm, Sunday 3 August: 12pm-6pm.

For full details of the festival, including parking and travel information, please visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/riverside

For further information on the Children’s Festival, please visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/www/whatson/view_events_homepage.asp