Wey River Festival, 14 September 2024, Dapdune Wharf
- Published:
- 07 August 2024
The Wey River Festival will take place on Saturday 14 September at Dapdune Wharf, in the heart of Guildford, with food and craft stalls, live music and children’s activities, culminating in a colourful evening illuminated pageant.
This article is about the Wey River Festival 2024
This article is about 2024's festival. The Wey River Festival 2025 will take place on Saturday 27 September. Please check back here later in the year for more details.
What is it all about?
The festival is free to enter. Friday night is the boaters’ social, with live entertainment. As always, we’ll have the boater’s raffle to raise money for the property and the barbecues will be out for you to cook whatever you fancy! So, if you're a boater, come along over to the Wharf, meet folk and join the fun.
On Saturday the gates open at 11am. Visitors can browse local food and craft stalls, enjoy the sights and sounds of Morris dancers and Alder Valley brass band, and see free performances from Prologue Youth Theatre and listen to students from ACM. There's lots for families too, with games, crafts and sports on the island.
The highlight of the event is the Saturday evening illuminated pageant, which processes slowly downstream from the centre of Guildford to Dapdune Wharf, where it is met by crowds on the Wharf and live music.
You can download a map of the stalls and activities here.
When is it happening?
The River Wey Festival takes place on Saturday 14 September from 11am to 8.30pm. Free entry to Dapdune Wharf.
How to get here
This year, we're delighted that Heritage Buses are offering free rides from Guildford town centre to the festival. Buses run every 30 minutes from 11am - 4pm. More details can be found here. There is no parking at the Wharf although drop off is available. We recommend taking the Heritage Bus or parking in one of the many car parks in Guildford and arriving on foot.
For boaters visiting from other waterways, why not consider a seven-day visitor licence? If you are not already familiar with the Wey Navigations, this will give you the chance to explore this beautiful and tranquil waterway that stretches from Thames Lock down to Godalming. Passing through beautiful scenery and SSSIs as well as industrial areas that still pay tribute to the heritage of the Navigation, we would encourage anyone coming to the festival to explore this stunning waterway and see it for yourselves.
History of the festival
The inspiration for the festival was the Inland Waterways Association rally held on the National Trust-owned River Wey Navigation in 1970 when 380 boats and 15,000 people attended. A couple of boating families got together several years later, determined to provide an event for the boating community on the waterway. Since 1999 the event has been supported by the National Trust, with a committee of volunteer boaters organising, planning and delivering the event for both boaters and the public alike to enjoy. It has been cancelled only three times: during the droughts of 2005 and 2006 and in 2022 due to the sad loss of Her Majesty, the Queen.