Friday 11 April 2014

Thames Festival - TOTALLY THAMES: A spectacular new 30-day celebration for London's river

THAMES FESTIVAL TRUST PRESENTS…
Hello Dominic11 April 2014
30 days, 42 miles, 17 boroughs - an amazing new celebration for the whole of London's river!
Image ©enquiriesslf@gmail.com
After 16 years of bringing you the Mayor’s Thames Festival, THAMES FESTIVAL TRUST is delighted to announce TOTALLY THAMES: an amazing, annual, 30-day season of events that will take place across the river’s 42 London miles and the 17 boroughs through which it runs. (1-30 Sept 2014)
Taking place for the first time in September, Totally Thames includes the great art commissioned on and beside the river as part of the Mayor’s Thames Festival, the extraordinary Tall Ships Festival presented by the Royal Borough of Greenwich, all the colour and passion of the Great River Race, and dozens of other fantastic river events on the meandering Thames between Hampton Court Palace in the west and the Dartford Crossing in the east.

Totally Thames aims to be the biggest season of river events in the world, shining a light on all that’s great about London’s iconic river – from walking and eating beside it, enjoying river races and rallies, and exploring the river by boat to visiting the amazing heritage attractions and green spaces that line its banks.
The Trust and its partners have already organised dozens of river events in Richmond, Kew, Brentford, Hammersmith, Imperial Wharf, Wandsworth, Vauxhall, South Bank, More London, St Katharine Docks and the Isle of Dogs, amongst many others.
Developing Programme: The full programme for Totally Thames will be launched in July. Check into our new website, www.totallythames.org, for regular updates. We also have daily conversations about all things Thames on Facebook and Twitter.
With thanks to: Totally Thames is delivered by Thames Festival Trust in partnership with London First, London's leading business body, London & Partners, the Mayor's official promotion organisation for London, the Mayor of London, Arts Council England, and dozens of partners in the riverside boroughs.
Programme Highlights
The Mayor's Thames Festival
1-30 Sept: Delivering free, rivery fun in central London for almost two decades, the Mayor's Thames Festivalis London's only river-focused, multi-arts festival and the largest of its kind in the world.
Having expanded last year from a weekend event to 10 days, this year's festival will be held over a longer period and a wider area: throughout September and along the 42-mile London stretch of the Thames. One event will take in the whole of the Thames from source to sea. 
EXPECT: To be dazzled, inspired and delighted by extraordinary new art commissions; films and performances on the riverside; beachcombing and bonfires on the foreshore; walks, talks, and explorations; slow cruises; fast boats; and dozens of incentives to get you onto London’s greatest natural asset!
The Great River Race
27 Sept: Also known as London's River Marathon, this spectacular boat race up the Thames attracts more than 300 crews from all over the globe.
EXPECT: Fancy dress, charity stunts, and serious sportsmen and women vying for the River Race crown.
History Beneath Your Feet
"Indeed the river is a perpetual gala, and boasts each month a new ornament." Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature.
13 Sept: A day celebrating the unique history and traditions of the Thames right on the foreshore of the wonderful river itself. See and Hear About: Mysterious Thames finds such as witch bottles, clay pipes and Bankside pottery, displayed beside the river stairs opposite the Globe, as well as what ancient riverside dwellers ate in the past. Discover: 10,000 years of London’s history beneath your feet during a foreshore walk with leading Thames archaeologists Dr Fiona Haughey and Mike Webber.
Image: Objects found on the Thames foreshore  © Dr Fiona Haughey.
Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Festival
5-9 Sept: The Royal Borough of Greenwich will host the largest fleet of Tall Ships to visit London in 25 years with a 5-day, free festival across historic Greenwich, Royal Arsenal Woolwich, Greenwich Peninsula and West India Dock. 
EXPECT: Chances to board the Tall Ships moored along the Greenwich waterfront; dazzling evening fireworks displays; free cultural performances, music and entertainment at the festival villages; and a crew parade and festival procession.
Rivers of the World
16 Aug - 14 Sept: Every year, as part of the Mayor’s Thames Festival, magnificent, large-scale artworks created by school-goers in river cities around the world add colour and dazzle to the South Bank’s riverside walkways.
The works are produced as part of Rivers of the World, the Thames Festival Trust’s international art and education project, delivered in association with theBritish Council’s 'Connecting Classrooms' programme. 
This year, the 500th art work will be created with the Mississippi as its subject by students in New Orleans, devastated in 2005 when a massive storm surge generated by Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 per cent of the city. In 2014, 24 secondary schools in London will partner with 8 schools in New Orleans (USA), 8 in Taipei (Taiwan), and 8 in Jhelum (Pakistan). 
Image: Detail, Rivers of the World artwork by © Mohammad Mokan High School College, Bangladesh 2012.
Let's Talk Thames !
We are very excited about Totally Thames and the way it will bring people on the river together. While we are continuing to build the programme between now and September, we will also be talking all things Thames online. As well as checking out our new website,www.totallythames.org, join our rivery conversation here online on Facebook and Twitter:
Looking forward to chatting! All of us here at Thames Festival Trust. X

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