All systems go for National Waterway Festival

Preparations are in full swing for the Inland Waterways National Festival and Boat Show, to be held in August on the River Thames near Pangbourne, Reading.

Six hundred boats have already signed up for the four-day festival taking place over the summer bank holiday, from Friday 22 August to Monday 25 August. The venue, Beale Park, is a popular riverside wildlife park.

Eileen McKeever, Thames waterway manager, said: "It's good to welcome the Festival back to the Thames. The Thames is increasingly part of the national waterways network and it's great to see so many boats from round the country - and in a few years' time, the Cotswold Canals will be open, making it even easier."

The festival is organised by the Inland Waterways Association and also sponsored by the Environment Agency (EA) and British Waterways. The EA is to provide a floating pump-out barge for boaters' toilets, as well as an extra water supply at Mapledurham Lock. Festival organisers are hoping to run a ferry service and public boat trips.

Festival chairman Chris Coburn says the event is "on course for being one of the best ever". More than 200 exhibitors will be at the show presenting new and used boats, boating accessories, clothing and services for boat owners as well as boats for holiday hire. Other attractions will include live music and theatre, children's activities, waterway restoration demonstrations, the Thames Valley Farmers' Market and cookery shows.

Beale Park is located one mile upstream from Pangbourne on the A329 between Streatley and Pangbourne, one mile from Pangbourne Rail Station. For more information, call 0870 240 2438. Waterscape.com will be running regular updates in the run-up to the festival.