The Brownhills Canal Festival is back - and it was a big hit!
Last held in May 2019, this year's Festival has been organised by Lichfield and
Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust and took place in lovely weather over the weekend of September
18th and 19th.
LHCRT communications, events and membership director Christine Howles
explained why the Trust was organising the Festival.
“We are bringing back the Brownhills Canal Festival after a few years' absence,
with the last event hosted by Birmingham Canal Navigations Society in 2019.
“We were approached by Brownhills resident (and LHCRT member) Malcolm
Littler, who asked if we could help arrange the festival
“As Brownhills is at the top end of the Lichfield Canal it made sense for us to
help out, promote Brownhills as a canal town, raise awareness of the link the
Lichfield Canal will bring to the canal network and to Brownhills, and create a fun
weekend for everyone. Traditionally held in the summer, we chose September for the event.”
(It had originally been planned to hold a Huddlesford Heritage Gathering this month, but covid-19 and HS2 uncertainty put paid to that. Watch out for an announcment soon regarding HHG 2022 )
The festival was last held in 2019 when it was organised by the Birmingham
Canals Navigation Society. This year the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust took
on the role and the event proved such a success that members are already
looking at how and when they might stage next year's event.
Christine Howles, the Trust's communications, events and membership director,
said: "We staged the festival at Silver Street, in Brownhills, and there were about
20 boats taking part whose owners had come from across the country.
"There were also 20 stalls on the towpath and we believe there were about 2,000
visitors to the event during the weekend. Admission was free of charge so we
really do not have any real idea of the true number who attended but it proved
hugely popular. We were pleased to see so many people coming along to see the traders.
"We had lovely weather and it was good to hear all the positive comments from
those taking part and visiting."
The Trust would like to say A Big Thank You to all those who attended and helped to make this festival such a great weekend. And a special thanks to Christine Howles for almost single handedly organising the event at such short notice.
