Forthcoming river events in the UK and Ireland

This page tells you about river-related events happening soon in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Examples of things we like to include here: river festivals, beach cleans, hands-on fishing demonstrations, lectures or workshops on nature topics, campaigning events and protests related to rivers and related environmental issues.

We'd really appreciate your help in keeping this page up-to-date, so please do add details of any other events you know about. You can add new things to this page just like you edit a page on Wikipedia. (There are instructions on how to do this here.) We really welcome your contributions, but please don't post material that infringes copyright, advertisements for products or services (conferences or commercial events aimed at a river/water/environment audience are absolutely fine), or anything that unnecessarily causes offence. We reserve the right to remove material such as this for any reason at any time.

Photo: River Test, Mottisfont, Romsey, Hampshire by the UK Rivers Network.

If you'd like to link to this page, you don't have to use the long and clumsy URL shown in your browser: the shorter link http://www.ukrivers.net/events.html will also work.

• 2011 events
• 2010 events
• 2009 events

• Cornwall: Cornwall Wildlife Trust: River Camel Birdwatch on New Year's Day: 1 January. 10am-1pm. North Cornwall, see website for event details.
• Yorkshire: Yorkshire WT: Driffield New Year's Duck Race: 1 January: “We will be racing up to 450 plastic ducks along the stream as it passes beside the car park. Owners of the first three ducks in the final will receive £30, £20 and £10 respectively. Ducks, which cost £1, will be available through local volunteers as well as on the day.”
• Cumbria: Cumbria WT: North Walney Beach Clean: 2 January. 10am-12pm.
• Derbyshire: Calver Weir Restoration Project Update: CWRP is planning to host an evening event at Calver Village Hall in January 2012 to update local people on what's happening with the project.
• Hampshire: H&IOW Wildlife Trust: Blashford Lakes Walk and Bird Watch: 4 January. 11am-1pm.
• Cardigan, Wales: Welsh WT: Aquatic life of the Teifi: Wednesday 4th January 7.30pm. Talk by a member of the Teifi Trout Association.
• London: Freys Valley Conservation: 8 January. Habitat improvement and hands-on canalside sonservation work.
• London: Thames21: River Cray Community Cleanup: 5 January and 9 January.
• Norfolk: Norfolk WT: Lake restoration in the Broads: understanding the past to predict the future: Illustrated talk by Dan Hoare of the Broads Authority. 10 January.
• Somerset: Somerset WT: Life on the edge; the Somerset Levels: 11 January. Derek Briggs will give an informative talk about the geology and ecology that is so finely balanced in this special local environment.
• Wales/Brecon: Brecknock WT: Annual Winter Bird Walk: 7 January. Venue: Llangors Lake. “An entertaining and informed walk around the lake looking at the winter bird residents, led by Andrew King”.
• Yorkshire: Aire Rivers Trust: 12 January. Regular monthly meeting of this new rivers trust.
• London: Wandle Trust: River Wandle Cleanup: 8 January. Location TBC.
• Northamptonshire: Northants WT: Amphibians and their world: 10 January. Illustrated talk by George Twiselton.
• London: Thames21: Green Skills and Wellbeing: 12 January. Learn hands-on canal-cleaning skills to improve your environment and your own health and wellbeing!
• Hertfordshire: Herts WT: Bittern Spotting at Amwell: Join Tim Hill, the Trust's Conservation Manager, to search for the elusive bittern at Amwell Nature Reserve. Booking essential. 15 January.
• Wiltshire: Avon WT: Wildlife of the Bristol Avon: An illustrated talk by Gill Cardy: “Waterways are a corridor and a haven for all sorts of wildlife that depend on them. The Avon is especially rich in wildlife above the surface as well as below.” Venue: St. Peter’s Church Hall, Frogwell, off Hungerdown Lane, Chippenham. 18 January. 7.30pm.
• Dorset: Dorset WT: Poole Harbour: A Personal View: 20 January. Talk by Mark Constantine. 7.30pm, St Catherine's Church Hall, Rodway's Corner, Wimborne.
• Worcs: Worcs WT: Newport Wetlands Day Trip: A trip organised by the Redditch Local Group of WWT. For more information including travel details and times, please contact the group. 21 January.
• Sussex: Sussex WT: Shinewater Lake Walk: 24 January. An easy two mile walk around Shinewater Lake looking for wintering birds.
• Avon: Avon WT: Life Beneath British Seas: 26 January. Illustrated talk by Helen Wehner and Rick Ayrton.
• Derbyshire: Derbyshire WT/National Trust: Celebrating Great Trees: 28 January. Kedleston Hall. 10.30am-2.30pm: “Come and join in our family-friendly activities, including art and craft, a mini-beast hunt and tree identification games.”
• National: RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch: 28/29 January. Count the birds in your garden and help RSPB map trends around the country!
• Bucks: BBOWT: Discovery Day: Wetland Wonderland: 28 January. Join us at College Lake to celebrate World Wetlands Day. 11am-3pm.
• Somerset: Friends of the Somerset River Frome: 31 January. AGM plus a talk by Bob Sargent, a hydrologist who has recently moved to the area.

• World: World Wetlands Day: 2 February. Celebrating the Ramsar Convention.
• Worcestershire: Worcs WT: Wildlife of the Teme Valley: 2 February. Talk by Danny Arnold, for the Wyre Forest Local group of WWT. Kidderminster. 7.30pm.
• Dorset: Kimmeridge Beach Clean: 5 February. Clean up the bay after those winter waves!
• Glasgow: Friends of River Kelvin Cleanup: Snow Bridge, Kelvingrove: 5 February, 10:30am.
• Yorkshire: Todmorden Riverside Improvement Group: Hands-on activity: 6 February, 10:30am.
• Somerset: Somerset WT: How a wood works: Castle Cary, 7 Feb. Dr. Charles Hill (former tree warden for the Woodland Trust) will talk about woods and their importance for the environment.
• Devon: Devon WT: Sharks - threats and challenges for a sustainable future: An illustrated talk by John Richardson of The Shark Trust, Tavistock, 8 February.
• London: Thames 21: The Big Waterways Cleanup: Cleaning up rivers around the East of London ready for the Olympics. Launch event on February 8th. Read more about the project.
• Norfolk: Norfolk WT: Reptiles and Amphibians: Illustrated talk by Phil Parker from NARG, 10 February.
• Avon: Avon WT: THE DIVERSITY OF MARINE LIFE UNDER THE BRITISH ISLES: Talk by Rick Ayrton 7.30pm. 10 February.
• Lincolnshire: Lincs WT: Wetlands for wildlife and people: An illustrated talk by independent farming and wildlife consultant Roger Wardle. Grimsby. 13 Feb.
• Yorkshire: YWT: Water Vole Work Party: 2 February. Royston Bridge on Barnsley Canal. 9 and 19 Feb. - 10:30am - 4:00pm.
• Shropshire: Shropshire W: Boat trips on the River Severn with Darwin and Sabrina!: A trip along the River Severn loop in Shrewsbury. 11 February.
• Hampshire: Hampshire WT: Story walk along the Itchen Navigation: “Join professional storytellers Chris Bennett and Sara Scott from Orange Apples for a story walk along the Itchen Navigation at Allbrook following some of the animals who live and thrive along this waterway.” 2-3pm 14 February, aimed at children 4-10.
• Sussex: WWT Arundel: Great Scott: Half-term South Pole Family Activity Days: The ‘Great Scott Trail’ through the wetland reserve leads families through a series of Antarctic adventures to see how they would fare on a Antarctic trek. Every day during half-term.
• Wiltshire: Wilts WT: Spring delights, Langford Lakes: 17 February. Guided walk around Langford Lakes Nature Reserve. 10am-12pm.
• Gwent: Gwent WT: Evolution of the Lower Wye Landscape: 14 February. “Dr George Peterken, OBE, former president of the GWT gives an illustrated talk on the evolution of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and how the landscape has changed after the retreat of the glaciers.”
• Yorkshire: YWT: Winter birds at Staveley: 18 February. Afternoon session. “Come to Staveley for some handy water bird tips”
• Suffolk: Aldeburgh Music: Place: The Meanings of Water: 18-19 February, Snape. “A wide-ranging exploration of the meanings of the marine, the estuarine and the waterway in film, art, literature and thought.”
• Herefordshire: Herefordshire WT: The Upper Wye: 21st February. Talk by Brian Draper.
• Edinburgh: The Water of Leith Conservation Trust: Work day at St Mark's Park: 24 February.

• Northumberland: Northumberland WT: River Aln Estuary: Alnmouth Wetlands Field Trip to the River Aln Estuary. Thu, 08/03/2012 - 1:30pm
• National: Climate Week 12-18 March. A week of activities, nationwide, focusing on the fight to tackle climate change.
• World: International Day of Action for Rivers 14th March. Annual celebration for the international anti-dam, pro-rivers movement organized by International Rivers.
• World: World Water Day 2012 22nd March. Annual UN event to draw attention to the huge number of people still without clean, safe water and sanitation.
• London: Planet Under Pressure 2012: 26-29 March 2012. International conference on sustainability.
• Leicester: Greenlight Festival 2012: 31 March 2012. Leicester's festival of sustainable living.

• London: The Boat Race 2012: 7 April.

• Durham: The 25th Annual Conex Canoe Race: 2 May 2011. 5 mile race on Grade 2 water. Open to all paddlers (Individuals, Canoe Clubs, Schools, Youth Organisations, Firms).
• London: Canalway Cavalcade 2012: 5-7 May 2012. Little Venice, Paddington, London. Annual celebration of canals and inland waterways.
• World: International Dawn Chorus Day: 6 May 2012.

• Gloucestershire: IWA National Trailboat Festival: 2-4 June. Stroudwater Canal, Stroud, Glos.
• Warwickshire: Stratford River Festival 2012: 30 June-1 July.

• Warwickshire: Stratford River Festival 2012: 30 June-1 July.
• Worcestershire: Evesham River Festival: 6-8 July.
• London: Olympic Games 2012: 27 July-12 Aug 2012.
• Yorkshire: York Festival of Rivers: TBC.
• Bedfordshire: Bedford River Festival: 21-22 July 2012.
• National: National Fishing Month 2012. Dates TBC.
• Hampshire: Hampshire Water Festival 2011. Dates TBC.
• Gloucestershire: River Folk Festival: Dates to be confirmed. The Trout Inn, Lechlade.
• Kent: Maidstone River Festival: 30 July.
• TBC: The Coracle Society AGM 2012. Dates TBC.

• National: Wildlife Trusts: National Marine Week. Dates TBC.
• Lancashire: IWA Campaign Festival: 25-26 August 2012. “Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Ribble Link and encouraging visitors to the Preston area of the Canal.”