Mist hanging over a still canal at dawn beneath a wooden footbridge, moored narrowboats fading into the haze with woodsmoke rising from a stove chimney.
Photo: Barry Skeates from newbury, UK · CC BY 2.0
15 dated · 13 awaiting dates

UK Canal & Waterway Events 2026 & 2027

Next up: Final Pumping Days of 2026 at Claverton Pumping Station — Selected dates, 12 Sep – 10 Oct 2026, Somerset.

Canals only exist because of hauling. The towpath is there because a horse walked it, pulling a boat carrying thirty tonnes at three miles an hour, and when steam arrived the same boats swapped horsepower for boilers. Every canal event on this page traces back to that one job, moving heavy things by water, which is why the waterways sit alongside steam railways and traction engines on TractionAction.

The season has a shape. Boat festivals cluster from late summer into autumn: the Millennium Link flotilla marks 25 years of Scotland's reopened lowland canals at Falkirk on 29 and 30 August 2026, the Black Country Boating Festival runs 11 to 13 September with free entry, and Banbury Canal Festival closes the run on 3 and 4 October. The historic fleet gathers at Braunston each June. Winter is quieter on the water but better in it: the Canal & River Trust drains locks for maintenance between January and March and opens some to visitors, free, hard hats provided.

Everything listed here has a confirmed date, a venue and a postcode, and we check the lot weekly. Use the postcode search to find what is on near you, or pick a subtype: boat rallies and festivals, free winter lock open days, or heritage boats including the last horse-drawn trip boats in Britain. New dates land in the Weekly Runsheet email every Thursday.

Browse by type

Historic canal tugs and working boats moored two abreast waiting for a rally parade, a red ensign flying from a stern mast under a bright cloudy sky.

Boat Rallies & Festivals

14 listed →
A drained canal lock chamber at Camden with the Hampstead Road Lock sign, an access ladder down the exposed brick wall, bunting overhead and a pump generator on the lockside.

Lock Open Days

1 listed →
The historic steam narrowboat President billowing white steam at a canal festival, with a boatman in period waistcoat and flat cap leaning on the cabin and the butty Kildare moored alongside.

Horse-Drawn & Steam Boats

11 listed →

September 2026

October 2026

3Oct

Banbury Canal Festival

Banbury town centre canalside, Castle Quay and Tooley's Boatyard, Oxford Canal, Banbury · Oxfordshire

Canals Free Sat 3 – Sun 4 Oct 2026

November 2026

28Nov

Foxton Flight Illuminations

Foxton Locks, Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, Foxton · Leicestershire

Canals Free Sat 28 Nov – Fri 1 Jan 2027

December 2026

January 2027

May 2027

1May

IWA Canalway Cavalcade 2027

Little Venice, Grand Union Canal and Regent's Canal junction, London · Greater London

Canals Free Sat 1 – Mon 3 May 2027
28May

Crick Boat Show 2027

Crick Marina, West Haddon Road, Grand Union Canal, Crick · Northamptonshire

Canals Fri 28 – Mon 31 May 2027

June 2027

Annual fixtures — dates being confirmed

TBCMay

Batchworth Boat Rally 2027

Batchworth Lock and the Grand Union Canal by Rickmansworth Aquadrome, Rickmansworth · Hertfordshire

Canals
TBCJun

Etruria Canals Festival 2027

Etruria Industrial Museum, junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon canals, Stoke-on-Trent · Staffordshire

Canals Free

These events run most years but the organiser has not confirmed the next date yet. We check weekly and date them the moment they are announced. Get the weekly email and you will not miss it.

Same crowd, different engines: railway events · plant and digger events

Canal & Waterway Events: your questions answered

Are canal festivals free to visit?

Most are, yes. The Black Country Boating Festival, Banbury Canal Festival, Wolverton Canal & Rail Festival and the RCTA floating markets are all free for towpath visitors. The exceptions are events inside paid attractions, like the Historic Narrow Boat Club gathering at the Black Country Living Museum on 3 and 4 October 2026, where normal museum admission applies.

When is the main canal event season?

Late April to early October, with a second wind at Christmas. Big rallies bookend it: IWA Canalway Cavalcade in London over the May Day weekend and Braunston's historic narrowboat rally in late June, then a run of festivals through September into Banbury in early October. Santa cruises pick up from late November.

What is a lock open day?

A free winter event where the Canal & River Trust drains a lock for maintenance and lets you walk along the bottom of the empty chamber. The 2026/27 programme runs between January and March 2027, with venues announced in late autumn. Hard hats are provided and kids are welcome.

Can you still see horse-drawn canal boats?

Yes, in a handful of places. Regular horse-drawn public trips run at Tiverton on the Grand Western Canal, Kintbury on the Kennet & Avon and Llangollen Wharf in North Wales. It is the original form of canal traction and the reason towpaths exist at all.

Do I need to book canal events in advance?

For festivals and rallies, no, just turn up. For boat trips, yes, and festive cruises go early: Chichester Canal lists advance booking as essential for its Father Christmas cruises, and Wey & Arun Canal Trust opens Santa cruise booking in autumn for December sailings.

What is the biggest canal event in the UK?

For boats on show, Crick Boat Show near Rugby over the late May bank holiday (28 to 31 May 2027) is the largest inland waterways show. For historic working boats, it is the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally on 26 and 27 June 2027, with dozens of former working boats gathered in one marina.

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