Feast on Southwark Bridge from last year's event
The banks of the River Thames will be thronged with people this weekend as the thirteenth Mayor's Thames Festival gets underway.
The festival is split into four zones, running between Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge "and beyond", though in this case "beyond" really means St. Katherine Docks. The website lists a huge number of events, but if you can't be bothered to trawl through all the massed ranks of links, here are some of the highlights:
The Feast on the Bridge: Dubbed London's "most inspiring and spectacular food event" by organisers, this event sees Southwark Bridge closed to traffic and festooned with market food sellers, musicians, and a hand-powered cinema for the evening finale.
Thames Revival: Tapping in to the current vintage trend, a host of historic vessels will be moored up in St Katherine Docks. Come suitably attired in gladrags from your favourite maritime era, or if you're out of sou'westers and Navy surplus clobber, there will be a vintage market on site.
River Parade: On Saturday afternoon a parade of vessels large and small, old and new, will set out from the QE2 pier and chug as far as Lambeth Bridge before turning back.
Carnival: Come nightfall on the Sunday, 2,000 musicians and dancers will take to the streets, travelling along Victoria Embankment and then over a traffic-free Blackfriars Bridge.
See the full festival programme for more details.
Mayor's Thames Festival, 11th-12th September, various locations.
See pictures from last year's event.
