London’s canal festival is back with 100+ boats and an illuminated parade

If you’re staying in London for the early May bank holiday and want something that doesn’t involve fighting for a table in a pub garden, this is a solid alternative.

More than 100 boats are set to moor up in Little Venice for the return of the IWA Canalway Cavalcade, a three-day celebration of the capital’s waterways that’s been running for decades. It takes place from the 2nd of May to the 4th, and it’s completely free to mooch about.

The boats are the main event. There will be a mix of historic narrowboats, residential barges, working vessels, cruisers and widebeams, many of them decked out in bunting and full-on decorations. It’s part floating museum, part very British pageant, with owners on hand and plenty of opportunities to get a closer look at how these things actually work.

The setting helps as well. The Pool of Little Venice, the stretch of water just behind Paddington, turns into a kind of temporary harbour for the weekend, with boats packed in tightly and activity going on pretty much all day.

Even if you’ve got no interest in boats, enough is happening on land to make it worth the trip. There’s live music across the weekend, food stalls, an ale bar, and a run of traders selling crafts, canal bits and general vintage-style finds. It leans properly into that low-key festival feel without ever getting too hectic.

The standout moment, though, is the illuminated boat parade on the Sunday evening. From 9pm, the boats head out covered in lights, turning the canal into something that feels a bit like Christmas but with slightly better weather and fewer arguments about presents.

It’s also one of the more family-friendly things you’ll find over the bank holiday, with plenty going on for kids alongside the usual wandering, eating and drinking for everyone else.

The event runs 10am–6pm on Saturday, 10am–6pm (and then 9pm–10:30pm for the illuminated parade) on Sunday, and 10am–5pm on Monday. You don’t need a ticket, just turn up, although if you were hoping to arrive by boat, you’re out of luck, as moorings are already full.

For a free, slightly different way to spend a bank holiday weekend, it’s hard to argue with.

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