Community Engagement

River Festival 2023

June 3, 2024

On 17th and 18th June 2023, Coventry’s first River Festival came to Millennium Place. This Festival had a free programme of live music, theatre, DJs, crafts, dance workshops, poetry, installations, film, face painting and more! River Festival Coventry showed off the best that our city has to offer, bursting with creativity from local artists.

The first ever River Festival was delivered by a collective of organisations at the heart of the city, coming together to celebrate our creative, digital, cultural, environmental and engineering sectors.

Programme – River Festival 2023
  • Talking Birds – The Whale – A Coventry based company of artists put on short theatre shows inside a metal whale.
  • Ludic Rooms – Half Truths & Sticklebacks – A pagoda full of the reimagining of Coventry’s watery past with archive materials and lost histories.
  • Local dance groups Ascension Youth and Elite Dance put on dance performances on both days.
  • Local audio-visual artist Indira created an interactive piece which combined community voices and composed sound which played upon touching custom water-based scenes.
  • Several films were shown on loop inside the Coventry Transport Museum.
  • A Main Stage, hosted by Sibby du Beck, had a constant interaction with the public featuring River Hour put on by The Sherbourne Valley Project, poets Adjei Sun and Emily Hunt, and a variety of musical artists, Nicky Ager, Humans On Wax, The Upsiders, DJ Raymondo and Sisters In Dub.
  • Live Mural Creation on each day, by Katie O and Michael Batchelor.
  • A nonverbal theatre performance for young people with learning disabilities put on by Open Theatre.
  • The Enormous Turnip – A magical puppet show for children aged 3+.
  • A quiet space in Lady Herberts Garden featuring river stories from all over the world, beanbags, garden games, free face painting and an outdoor theatre performance.
  • Crafts, a nature showcase and guided walks from The Sherbourne Valley Project and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust stalls.
  • You can see the full programme of events and further details here.

View related posts

In March 2025, we will be carrying out restoration works in Charterhouse Heritage Park with approved contractors. The project aims to re-naturalise the River Sherbourne which flows through Coventry, improving it for nature and for local communities. There will be several elements to this particular restoration project, all of which will have a positive effect on the river and surrounding area in both short-term and long-term scenarios.

In November 2024, we will be carrying out restoration works in Lake View Park with approved contractors Ecolibrium Environmental Contracting Ltd. The project will have multiple elements, including on-river and off-river restoration, which will improve features for people and nature.

View related posts

No items found.

View related posts

A selection of community events and conservation activities from March, showcasing the diverse ways the Sherbourne Valley Project engaged with volunteers and local groups. From tree planting and litter picking to educational talks and creative photography sessions, these events reflect our ongoing commitment to nature restoration and community involvement.

Through interactive activities, wildlife exhibits, and discussions, the project engaged with young communities and promoted nature conservation and sustainability.