Festival for the Wandle

8:14am Sunday 1st June 2008

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The fifth Wandle Valley Festival returns next month, with its biggest-ever line-up of environmental activities.

Organisers hope that the events, from canoeing to archeological digs, will shine a spotlight on the Wandle Valley amid ambitious plans to regenerate the area.

“We’re into our fifth year now and each time it’s been more successful than the last – it’s just getting bigger and bigger, and more diverse."

Jane Howard

Vicki Carroll, organiser of the event, said: "In this respect, the festival is the ideal way to showcase not just the river but the whole area.

"Looking forward, we want to make the Wandle Valley into a regional park that will stretch all the way from Wandsworth down to Croydon and will include the Wandle Valley Wetland area, the cycle trails and hopefully regeneration work."

The event will run on June 8 and 9, with more than 30 ecological or historical organisations involved.

They will be running activities and events in each of the four London boroughs the Wandle runs through.

Jane Howard, also a member of the festival's organising committee, said: "We're into our fifth year now and each time it's been more successful than the last - it's just getting bigger and bigger, and more diverse.

"There is a huge number of overlapping interests in the river from the environment to people, using it for sport, there is also its industrial heritage.

"It provides a fantastic ribbon through the area providing an invaluable green space for local residents."