Nottingham Riverside Festival 2023

About

Friday 4 - Sunday 6 August 2023
Victoria Embankment
FREE event​​​​​​

The East Midlands’ biggest free family festival will be back on Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 August.

A mile-long stretch of fairground rides, games and attractions will be situated along the banks of the Trent, plus numerous street food vendors, bars and market stalls. River-based activities including Dragon Boat Racing will return, which has raised thousands of pounds for charities over the years.

Music has always been at the heart of Riverside Festival, and this year is no different with a variety of solo artists, bands and musicians performing across three stages. 

The Monument Stage programmes world music performances that are not usually seen in Nottingham, including exciting and innovative global beats. Buffo’s Wake take to the stage on Friday evening, armed with accordions, violins and a bucket full of gusto, as well as the Afrobeat and reggae-inspired Soothsayers.

Saturday will welcome: Senegalese soul band Awalé; Tiwiza, offering a fusion of popular chaâbi riffs, Berber melodies and a distinct rock’n’roll spirit; Soukous band Kasai Masai; and six-piece bhangra group Achanak.

Closing the Monument Stage on Sunday will be: the Cajun Roosters, European purveyors of Cajun and Zydeco; Noga Ritter, whose music fuses Hebrew jazz with global grooves; and Grupo Lokito offering contemporary Congolese and Cuban music.

On Friday, the Big Top Stage is host to local DJs playing a variety of music. The emphasis shifts on Saturday to celebrate folk music, and this is widely acclaimed to be the best free folk stage line-up in the UK. The acts performing are: 5 Hills Out, who deliver songs with an upbeat Agit-Folk edge; Del Scott Miller and his folk-blues-jazz vibe; Winter Wilson performing original songs; Kootch, weaving toe-tapping tunes with stories of love and loss; seasoned folkie Marc Block; tongue-in-cheek The Lost Notes; the alluring and playful Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage; Americana folk duo The Black Feathers; and Sound of the Sirens performing co-written songs from emotive ballads to foot-stomping anthems.

On Sunday, visitors can enjoy performances on the Big Top Stage from choral groups Fun Chorus and Carlton Male Voice Choir, and the seven-piece jazz band Cranberry Flick.

Up-and-coming local and regional artists will take to the Bandstand Stage across the weekend, including singer-songwriter Jimmy Evans, writers/poets Sophie Driver and Cheska, and bands such as Goodgoodbye, Cam Mannix, Katie Keddie and Kelsey & The Embers.

One of the most popular elements of the festival is the firework display. The ten-minute spectacle, which sees crowds of up to 40,000 lining the Trent to watch, takes place on both Friday and Saturday night at 10.30pm.

On Saturday and Sunday, in the Little Big Top area, younger festival goers will be able to brush up their circus skills. The interactive workshops will feature stilt walking, plate spinning and juggling with Wolly the clown.

Travel

Car 
Book your parking in advance for just £8 per car (it's £10 on the day). The car park is accessed from Queens Drive (A453) and will be signposted from the A52 and the A60. The postcode for the car park is NG2 2GJ.

Bus
Plan your journey by NCT or Trentbarton buses. For just £8 the Grouprider ticket allows unlimited travel on all NCT buses for up to 5 people (max 2 adults). After the fireworks, frequent shuttle buses will operate from Victoria Embankment back into the city centre.

Tram
The closest tram stop to the festival is Meadows Embankment, which is a stop on the Clifton Line. Change trams at Nottingham Station if coming from Toton, or jump off at Meadows Way West if you don’t mind a slightly longer walk. Trams will operate every 10 minutes. The £8 Group ticket allows all day travel for 5 people (up to 2 adults and 3 children). You will be able to use all the Park and Ride car parks to get a tram to the festival.

On Sunday 6th August the Dragon Boat Racing returns! Click here for more info

The 2023 UK Corporate Dragon Boat Festival is an exciting event returning to Nottingham that will be held on Sunday 6th August at the Victoria Embankment as part of the ever-popular Riverside Festival, where local teams can represent their organisations in a bid to be crowned festival champions. The 2023 festival will be in support of our Charity Partner Nottinghamshire Hospice, who will be competing and raising funds on the day.