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
Photo: David Merrett from Daventry, England · CC BY 2.0
Canal & Waterway Events · 8 dated · verified weekly
Canal Boat Rallies & Festivals
Next up: Banbury Canal Festival — Sat 3 – Sun 4 Oct 2026, Oxfordshire.
Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally is the Glastonbury of historic boats. Every late June the marina at Braunston in Northamptonshire fills with former working boats, brasses polished and single-cylinder engines thumping, and the next one runs 26 and 27 June 2027. If you only do one rally, do that one. But the calendar is far busier than one weekend.
The next few weeks are packed. The Millennium Link 25th Anniversary Flotilla celebrates Scotland's reopened lowland canals at Falkirk on 29 and 30 August 2026, free. September 2026 brings the Black Country Boating Festival at Netherton (11 to 13 September, free entry), festivals at Whitchurch and Shardlow, Wolverton's combined canal and rail weekend on 12 and 13 September, and the RCTA floating markets at Great Linford, Anderton and Tipton, where trading boats moor up and sell from the towpath. Banbury Canal Festival closes the season on 3 and 4 October.
Looking ahead, IWA Canalway Cavalcade fills Little Venice in London over the May Day weekend, 1 to 3 May 2027, and Crick Boat Show near Rugby follows at the end of May. In the dark months there are treats too: Foxton Flight Illuminations light the famous lock staircase in Leicestershire for free on 1 November, and Lymm holds a festive boat parade in December. Rallies are towpath events, so turn up, walk the line of boats and talk to the owners. They like being asked about the engines.
October 2026
3Oct
HNBC Gathering at the Black Country Living Museum
Black Country Living Museum canal arm, Birmingham Canal Navigations, Dudley · West Midlands
Canals Museum admission Sat 3 – Sun 4 Oct 2026November 2026
28Nov
Foxton Flight Illuminations
Foxton Locks, Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, Foxton · Leicestershire
Canals Free Sat 28 Nov – Fri 1 Jan 2027December 2026
17Dec
Foxton Illuminated Boat Festival
Foxton Locks, Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, Foxton · Leicestershire
CanalsMay 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 202715May
Stewarts and Lloyds 60th Anniversary Boat Rally
Hawne Basin and the former Coombeswood factory site, Dudley No 2 Canal, Halesowen · West Midlands
Canals Sat 15 – Sun 16 May 202728May
Crick Boat Show 2027
Crick Marina, West Haddon Road, Grand Union Canal, Crick · Northamptonshire
Canals Fri 28 – Mon 31 May 2027June 2027
26Jun
Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally 2027
Braunston Marina, The Wharf, Braunston · Northamptonshire
Canals Sat 26 – Sun 27 Jun 2027Awaiting dates
TBCDec
TBCMay
Norbury Canal Festival 2027
Norbury Junction, Shropshire Union Canal, Norbury Junction · Staffordshire
Canals FreeTBCMay
Batchworth Boat Rally 2027
Batchworth Lock and the Grand Union Canal by Rickmansworth Aquadrome, Rickmansworth · Hertfordshire
CanalsTBCJun
Etruria Canals Festival 2027
Etruria Industrial Museum, junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon canals, Stoke-on-Trent · Staffordshire
Canals FreeTBCJul
Audlem Gathering of Historic Boats 2027
Audlem Wharf, Shropshire Union Canal, Audlem · Cheshire
Canals FreeTBCAug
Burnley Canal Festival 2027
Finsley Gate Wharf, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Burnley · Lancashire
CanalsThese run most years but the next date is not announced yet. We check weekly and date them the moment organisers confirm. Get the weekly email and you will not miss it.
More canal & waterway events: Lock Open Days · Horse-Drawn & Steam Boats · all canal & waterway events
Boat Rallies & Festivals: your questions answered
What is the biggest historic narrowboat rally?
Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally, held each late June at Braunston Marina in Northamptonshire, next on 26 and 27 June 2027. It draws the largest gathering of former working boats in the country, with the Audlem Gathering of Historic Boats in Cheshire (23 to 25 July 2027, free) as its main rival for atmosphere.
Are canal boat rallies free?
Almost always, yes, for anyone arriving on foot. Black Country Boating Festival, Wolverton, Banbury, Norbury and the floating markets are all free to visit, and you pay only for food, beer and whatever the trading boats sell you. Boaters pay a mooring fee to attend with their boat.
What is a floating market?
A weekend where roving trading boats moor together and sell from the towpath: food, crafts, books, fudge, the lot. The Roving Canal Traders Association runs them through the season, with September 2026 markets at Great Linford (Milton Keynes), Anderton and Tipton, all free.
Which canal boat rally is in London?
IWA Canalway Cavalcade, held at Little Venice near Paddington over the May Day bank holiday, next on 1 to 3 May 2027. Free to visit, over a hundred decorated boats, and an illuminated boat procession after dark.
What actually happens at a boat rally?
Boat parades, engine rooms open for a look, historic boat judging, trade and charity stalls, and usually a beer tent. The pleasure is in the detail: roses-and-castles paintwork, polished brass, and owners who will happily explain a Bolinder engine for as long as you will stand there.
Never miss one