About the festival

The Mayor’s Thames Festival is a spectacular, free celebration of London and its river. Taking place over the middle weekend in September between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge, the festival brings Londoners together in the very heart of the capital to dance, make sculptures, listen to music, watch movies, drink, eat, enjoy performances, sing, play on the beach, sail on the Thames and party in the streets.

Essentially, we want to provide a celebration for London and its river, a city centre party if you like, one that is free and open to all. We want to close roads and bridges and transform them with culture. We want to educate and transform people’s ideas about the river, too. Most of all, we want people not just to be spectators, but to be active participants in this spectacular London event.

Adrian Evans, Festival Director