River Festival key information

No. The Bedford River Festival an un-ticketed event. It is free and open to all.

The Festival will open at 10am on Saturday 18 July, with the final Main Stage act and Illuminated Boat Parade finishing at around 10.30pm.

On Sunday 19 July, the fun begins again at 10am and draws to a close at 8pm.

Plan your journey using the helpful information provided. Where possible we recommend using public transport, or if you live locally, walking.

All town centre car parks will be open.

Additional Festival car parking will be available at Everard Meadow and Bedford International Athletics Stadium at a cost of £10 per vehicle (card payments only will be accepted).

Additional car parking for disabled visitors will be available at Longholme Way (MK42 0BX), and in St Mary’s Car Park (in between Borough Hall and Bedford College) Cauldwell Street (MK42 9AP). You must display your blue badge. 

Visitor parking is available at the town centre car parks, and Everard Meadow and Bedford International Athletics Stadium (£10 a vehicle per day), ONLY CARD PAYMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Blue badge holders can park in the Everard Meadow and Athletic Stadium car park but please be aware that this is a grass field. 

Additional car parking for disabled visitors will be available at Longholme Way (MK42 0BX), and in St. Mary’s Car Park (in between Borough Hall and Bedford College) Cauldwell Street (MK42 9AP) - a blue badge will be required. 

There will also be Park and Ride available however this is still being finalised.

There will be a designated car park available for blue badge holders only off Longholme Way/Cardington Road roundabout. The postcode is MK42 0BX, and in St Marys Car Park (in between Borough Hall and Bedford College) Cauldwell Street (MK42 9AP). A blue badge will be required.

Blue badge holders can park in the Athletic Stadium car park but please be aware that this is a grass field. There are also disabled spaces in all of the Town Centre car parks.

Responsible dog owners are welcome to bring their dog, however if your pet is upset by large crowds please leave them at home for their own wellbeing. 

As this is a summer event, the weather may also be too warm for animals and there are only a handful of shaded areas on the event site.

Yes – though please do not bring any glass bottles or packaging onto the event site.

There will also be plenty of caterers and bars offering a wide range of tasty food, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks right across the Festival site.

Please don’t forget to responsibly recycle and dispose of all waste in the bins supplied across the event site.

Yes, we will have standpipes available for refilling water bottles.

At the event in 2022 a reusable cup scheme was introduced across all of the event bars. This greatly reduced the amount of litter and plastic waste at the event.

Visitors will purchase their reusable cup for a non-refundable fee when they buy their first drink from one of the event bars. This cup can then be returned to any bar and exchanged for a clean one with your next drink. 

When you choose to leave the Festival, you can either take your current cup home with you, or place it in one of the designated cup stations to be washed and reused at future events. 

Only the River Festival onsite bars will be running this scheme. These bars are located at:

• Russell Park (All three bars)
• Mill Meadows
• St Mary’s Gardens
• Castle Mound
• Butterfly Bridge on the Embankment
• Festival Market
• BBC Introducing Stage

Yes. We ask that everyone attending the event helps us to protect the environment and to help keep our parks looking beautiful. We will be providing many bins across the site, including recycling bins for all recyclable waste (please do not put food in these) and general waste bins for all non-recyclable waste.

We are potentially going to offer food recycling bins around the main catering units – please follow instructions on all bins.

We will be running a reusable cup scheme on the bars to minimise waste. Visitors will purchase their reusable cup for a non-refundable fee of £1 when they buy their first drink from one of the event bars. This cup can then be returned to any bar and exchanged for a clean one with your next drink. When you choose to leave the Festival, you can either take your current cup home with you, or place it in one of the designated cup stations to be washed and reused at future events.

If you are separated from your child or a vulnerable adult you are attending the event with, please report this immediately to security, a steward or an Information Point where the event staff will assist.

We advise parents and carers to ensure their children have a contact mobile phone number on a paper wristband or on their person.

Although there are commercial elements to the event, all income is reinvested into the festival with no commercial gain to the Council.

The Bedford River Festival is a community event organised by Bedford Borough Council to promote businesses and lifestyle opportunities in Bedford, and to provide great weekend entertainment for its residents.

Vendors’ prices are in line with other events of a similar scale. The event offers unrestricted access, which means that visitors can bring in their own food and drink.

No, it costs Bedford Borough Council money to put on this event. I

In 2024, the Council contributed approximately 26% of the overall running cost of the event. The remaining costs were covered by reinvested income.

The overall cost to run the event was approximately £455,000.

Approximately 95% of the overall running cost was spent on public safety measures for the event.

 All of the costs were for infrastructure elements such as safety barriers, stages, temporary bridges, toilets, First Aid cover, security personnel, traffic management, staff and partners’ costs.

All residents within the footprint of the River Festival will receive a letter in June 2026 with information about any changes to accessing or exiting their property.

Please go to our expressions of interest webpage if you wish to apply to be a trader. 

The 2026 event programme will be digital and can be found on the Bedford River Festival website when available.

There are information points located across the site, one each at Russell Park, Mill Meadows and St Mary’s Gardens. Event staff will be on hand to assist you. 

If you would like to bring your own boat along to the 2026 Bedford River Festival please email Events@bedford.gov.uk and request a Boat Mooring Reservation & General Details application.

At the even in 2024 approximately 32% of businesses were Bedfordshire-based.