Today, I paid a visit to the annual Brownhills Canal Festival. It was a cracking day weather wise, and the event enjoyed all the usual attractions – canoes, stalls, food, boats. It seemed a little more muted than last year, with a few less boats and the crowd seemed a tad thinner, which was surprising given the glorious sunny day. Still, it was a fun, typically English event with all the usual characters and fun to be had.
Sadly, I don’t think the publicity message was getting through, and I implore the organisers to connect with the online community next year. In the run up to this year’s event, I had over 600 hits in 4 days searching for it – the only links online being mentions in Chasewaterstuff’s excellent blog and, the article published here and a few cursory notes in waterway event calendars. Online resources like my blog and others are here to help, please use them. This is a terrific event and we all want to help get the message out there.
Please click on any image to see a larger version.
The canoes were as popular as ever...
The clown enjoyed an appreciative audience.
It didn't seem as large or crowded as previous years, which was a shame. It id get quite bustling at times.
It's the characters I love most.
There were lots of folk on bikes so I blended in quite well.
I can't see face painting without thinking of Phoenix Nights, but the kids seemed blissfully unaware.
Kids today seem born with webbed feet. I'm terrified of water. This young lass was having a ball.
I loved these guys.
A cracking day, with excellent weather.