The canal and riverfront promenade near Brentford town centre became a hive of activity for the Brentford Canal Festival held on Saturday, 22 June. 

A stage was set up at five different venues each where a stream of artists and stage groups performed sets of cultural gigs throughout the half-day event and kept the audience on their toes. 

"The reason we started the canal festival was to bring people back to the water and to get the local community involved and experience things they don't normally see," said Sam Thomas, a volunteer for the event organiser, Brentford Voice. 

Lots of stalls and activities were on offer for residents at the Brentford Canal Festival (credit: Moiz Saifuddin).

This is the third year of the festival which has improved year-on-year through community feedback and funding from local sponsors.

The event was held across various locations in Brentford: Market Place, Brentford Lock Piazza, Workhouse Dock, Bradshaw Yard, The Gauging Lock, Ferry Quays, the Grand Union Canal and River Brent. 

Increase in funding has enabled the addition of "a stage at Ferry Quays, a traditional old London double decker bus and a larger chip boat," said Thomas. 

Increased funding at the Brentford Canal Festival has seen new activities added this year (credit: Moiz Saifuddin).

The variety of activities and events prompted the organisers to print two foldable brochures to help attendees make sense of it all. 

Martin Case, a lead organiser of the festival said: "We estimate the numbers (of attendees) to be in the region of 6000 across the whole day.

"We provided 500 free canal boat trips, plus we had paddle boarding, canoeing and kayaking.

"We had 20 live music performers and 8 international dance troupes to provide entertainment and an interactive kids zone."  

St Lawrence's Church has opened for the first time in over 25 years thanks to restoration works from Ballymore (credit: Tim Eavis).

From heritage guided walks, water sports, boat trips and riding the old London bus to local shopping, street food and touring St Lawrence's Church, one of Brentford's oldest buildings open to the public for the first time in over 25 years.

The festival was also an opportunity for charities such as Hounslow Community Food Box to raise donations. 

"Today we were looking for donations, but we were also looking to make people aware (that) a lot of time we are running out of specific foods. So, donations for those specific things are really helpful," said Sam Campling, a volunteer with the Food Box. 

Families enjoyed the Brentford Canal Festival with sunny weather on the day (credit: Moiz Saifuddin).

"Volunteering at the food bank has revealed to me how much of a need there is. Each year we supply thousands of parcels and personally, before I volunteered, I was unaware that there was such a large need and it's really brought that to my attention," added Campling. 

Joe Thompson, a local resident, explained how these type of events are just what Brentford needs.

He said: "We have lived here for fifteen years now and have always come to these kinds of events which is absolutely fantastic... (it's) just what you want in your local community."

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