Leicester Riverside Festival - Sunday

The weather wasn’t as good today. Although the rain kept off there was a really strong chilly breeze and I think that kept visitor numbers down from yesterday. Having said that, there were still hundreds of people walking along the towpath, taking boat trips and hiring the canoes as well as in the main arena and around the music stage.

The bungee trampolines and the 'walk-on'water' attraction in the children's arena were particularly busy.

The Dragon Boat Racing took place today in front of Castle Gardens and we walked down to watch a couple of the heats. The crews certainly enter into the spirit of the competition and most were in fancy dress. They were raising money for PROSTaid, a local prostate cancer charity and LOROS which is a local hospice. Their collecting buckets were rattling nicely so hopefully they raised a lot of cash.

The owl display was repeated from yesterday, the eco village had a rustic wood working demonstration and the wandering children’s entertainer was a robot called Sparky. He was made from recycled materials including a plant pot, a welding mask and a hoover and went round the site squirting the kids with water.

The theme for the decorated boats competition was “Wildlife”  and one cruiser really went to town with its display of palm trees and stuffed animals.

The bands on the main stage were pretty good again, although I personally preferred those on yesterday. I think the sound system wasn’t adjusted quite as well today and a couple of the bands were just too loud to be enjoyable.

Altogether we’ve a really good weekend. I can heartily recommend Leicester Riverside Festival and would definitely come again if we’re in the area at the right time.  Leicester has had a bad reputation in the past for being rough and unsafe but from what we’ve seen this hasn’t been the case. Everyone has been very friendly and there hasn’t been any trouble at the festival. We’re stopping here again tonight and are staying moored on the Mile Straight. The secured moorings at Castle Gardens are full and I don’t want to have to breast up with other boats as it’s just too awkward getting the dogs off.  Hopefully some of the boats will have moved off in the morning and we’ll move over there to leave the boat while we go into town to do some shopping.