A free floating festival is heading to London next week – with live music, markets, and pop up dance classes
No 50m swimming badge required
It’s easy to forget that London with all its inherent city-ness is actually pretty aquatic – or at least we really make the most of the waterways to hand. Whether it’s a floating spa or a floating community theatre, there are plenty of events kicking off across the capital to take you off dry land and give you all the best parts of pirate life (i.e. being on the water and drinking). Called Round the Dock, this brand new festival is heading to Canada Water for the ultimate summer unwinder.
Round the Dock is a free six week waterside extravaganza which is all about putting a spotlight on South London’s creative scene. It’s kicking off next week on 6th August, with live performances all taking place on the new floating stage. Hopefully there are no sudden man overboard-s. All the events that are part of the festival are free to attend with no tickets or pre-booking required.
Tuesdays will see Spit Nights taking to the stage, for an unforgettable evening of live spoken word and music experience. Kicking off at 4.30 on 11th, 18th, and 25th, Spit Nights will be bringing bold poetry, live jazz, and performances to the stage.
Each Wednesday there will be a series of lectures and pints courtesy of London faves Pints of Knowledge. They will be covering everything from a deep dive on the psychology of raving to nerding out over shark films, taking your usual pub-side chats from “did you catch the game?” to uni-level smarts.
On Thursdays the snake-hipped salsa dancers will descend, taking to the docks as free Latin dance classes are running. Mo Touray and Baila Urbana are running free open air latin dance classes that are suitable for everyone, even those who feel like their hips are severely in need of a good spray of WD40 in order to meringue. Whether you are taking your first (rhythmic) steps or are already the friends notorious for being the first to the dancefloor, you’ll be able to learn the basics of salsa in a relaxed environment (i.e. no Craig Revell Horwood throwing a 2 paddle your way) with experts helping you out.
The party kicks up a gear on Friday with live music from Steam Down Presents who are bringing Sounds of Diaspora to the Dock, along with a different guest artist every week. Steam Down is an Afro-Punk band from South East London who blend live music with ritual and cultural movement, all rooted in improvisation, community and the (aforementioned) Sounds of Diaspora. You’ll hear a mix of jazz, grime, afrobeat, funk, and electronic music in every performance. They’re the kind of artist your mate who swears they were the first ones to ever listen to Ezra Collective will bang on about, and then you’ll get annoyed when you do listen, and realise they had a point. Steam Down will be performing from 5.10pm on the floating stage every Friday from 7th - 28th August.
The party continues on Saturdays with like Jazz and Soul music in partnership with another London favourite, Sofar Sounds. Known for showcasing incredible and criminally undiscovered local artists, Sofar Sounds will be taking over the stage from 8th-30th. Every date begins with a live warm up performance featuring Sofar Sounds before the headline act. There are a couple of Special Takeovers on the last two weekends of the festival to help round the whole thing off with a very soulful bang. It's a pretty cool lineup so it's worth taking a look at who's on.
As well as the festival, Canada Water Docks will still be hosting its regular roster of events like its craft market, flea market, and Garden Fair, as well as plenty of foodie pop ups.
Head to the Canada Water website to read all the details, including the full line up and timings for each day.
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