COVENTRY’S art and nature will be celebrated at Millenium Place this weekend at the city’s first-ever River Festival.
The free festival will take place this Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18 and will feature live music, theatre, DJs, crafts, dance and poetry.
It will also be a chance for Coventrians to celebrate the River Sherbourne, which flows beneath the city.
The event will take place between 11am and 6pm on Saturday, with Sundays festival starting at midday and lasting for four hours.
Ascension Dance will be showcasing several river- inspired performances from their senior youth groups SOAR and VERTEX across both festival days.
They will also be encouraging festival goers to try out moves inspired by parkour, free running and breakdance through a series of workshops.
Ludic Rooms will be encouraging people to think about the River Sherbourne using the archives and lost histories through Half Truths and Sticklebacks.
Talking Birds: The Whale will be at Millennium Place across the weekend, with Coventrians able to watch a three-minute water-themed theatre show after entering through the Whale’s mouth.
There will also be puppet shows at the festival as well as a screening of Coventry filmmaker Ben Cook’s 2020 documentary.
The documentary raises awareness of the impact of human consumption and climate change on the river and opens up a discussion on possible solutions.
DJ Raymondo will take to the main stage on Saturday afternoon, and staff from The Sherbourne Valley Project will take groups of people to the river’s edge on Palmer Lane where they can learn more about its history and plans to improve it.
Charlotte Ridpath from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Sherbourne Valley Project said: “We are incredibly excited to be able to celebrate the River Sherbourne through such a wide range of creative talent.
“The river and its wildlife have shaped Coventry and supported generations of people.
“Now it’s our turn to take better care of the waterway, after all it flows right through the city centre.”
Visit www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/riverfest2023 for more information.
