Thames Festival 2012 Down by the riverside

London continued showcasing and selling itself last weekend.

Both banks of the Thames Embankment  were lined with people.

The north side cheering for the Paralympics 2012 Marathon Racers and the south bank with festival goers to the Thames festival.

Every September the River Thames is transformed and outdoor spaces from Westminster Bridge to St Katherine Docks and beyond .

Father Thames comes alive with live music, dancing, art installations, river races carnival and fireworks.

 It is free.

The corporate partners, funders and Festival friends support the Tames Festival Trust help raise the £1 million pounds a year it takes to run the weekend.

thamesfestival.org

Here are some photos I took between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millenium Bridge during this year's festival.

"Hats off" to the Thames festival 2012



"Oh we do like to be by the Thameside !"
 on the Southbank



 Quiet spot on the beach , the Thames Festival partying above on the embankment in Sunny September

From the Thames shore - "Life'S-HARD"

 

 

   Thames links - Anchor Chain on the Southbank shore

As a result of expert photographer Jeremy Walker's talk on 'Landscape' in the Thames lens tent,

I tried out some of his tips.

 I  liked the effect of different lines in the bridge,

the pillars of St Paul's dome, the shadow lines of the bridge and the birch tree trunks silhouette



Thames lens tent with shadow of the 'wobbly bridge' to the entrance

One of the most  english and eccentric displays were the Morris Dancers.

Three styles of dancing  were performed.

Usually one sees this kind of dancing on a village green or in market towns but Morris Dancing goes back hundreds of years and records of it are mentioned in acounts of the Lord Mayor's Processions in the city  of London in the seventeenth century.



London's Hammersmith Morris Men Hammersmith Morris

 

 Hook Eagle Morris from Hampshire



Silkstone Green Morris, Barnsley Yorkshire

You tube clip
Silkstone Green Morris at Thames Festival 2012

With Silkstone Green Morris - real Yorkshire

Having lived in Dodworth near Barnesly for three years it was great to meet up with a sides/team  of ladies from Yorkshire and hear the West Riding tones again.