A free two-day festival celebrating life on and around Stoke-on-Trent’s canals is taking place this weekend.
Organised by B Arts, the Etruria Canals Festival will be held on Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1, from 11am to 5pm each day, at the Etruria Industrial Museum.
Historic narrowboats will moor along the canalside at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon canals, while there will be a range of family-friendly workshops, arts and heritage activities, performances, craft stalls and exhibitors, a beer tent and street food.
Lymestone Brewery will be running the on-site bar and there will be food stalls including baked potatoes, crepes, burgers, Thai food, ice cream, cakes and sweet treats. The museum tearoom will be open selling a selection of drinks, cakes and meals and festival goers can also bring their own food for a picnic.
Fetch Theatre company will be holding drop-in puppet making workshops and holding mini parades around the site, while visitors can also have a go at hands on activities such as traditional rag rug making, badge making, wood whittling or throwing a pot.
Performances over the weekend include Art Brasil, The Boat Band, Rock Choir and Domesday Morris, and there will be poetry walks and creative writing activities. The on-site blacksmith’s forge will also be open for demonstrations.
Parking will be available at Stoke-on-Trent College’s Caldon Campus with a free shuttle bus to and from the festival every 15 minutes. There are also a small number of spaces for disabled visitors by the Castlefield Street and Lower Bedford Street entrance.
Visitors are also encouraged to reach the festival by walking or cycling along the towpaths of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon canals to the junction at Etruria.
Donations towards the running of the festival can be made on Crowdfunder.
