The free day-long event will take place at Aristotle Lane Recreation Ground in north Oxford on Saturday.
Proceeds will go to The Kilsby Boat Project, a 112-year-old narrowboat being rescued to become a new community entertainment boat for Oxford’s waterways.
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There will be live music from the Jericho Singers, Ben Avison & Three Idle Women, Weekend Warriors, The Dirty Big Canal Dance Band, Mambo Panthers, Papa Nui, and Senegalese kora musician Jali Fily Cissokho.
Visitors can drop in to the Spoken Word Tent to listen to fantasy author Sir Philip Pullman reading on stage, and Roy MacFarlane, ‘Canal Laureate’, will announce the winning performances from this year’s poetry competition.
There will be stalls selling jewellery, clothing, treats and local crafts.
(Image: Oxford Mail) And there will be fun activities running all day for children including face painting, art, a bouncy castle, a Canal Olympics, arts and crafts projects, and a cinema showing local history short films.
A spokesman for the festival said: “Visitors can also enter our fun dog show – a hugely entertaining and impressive competition with our winners taking home fantastic canine prizes.
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“Craft beers and non-alcoholic drinks will be available in the bar tent, and a big selection of food vendors will be on site offering international cuisines.”
The Kilsby Boat Project is rescuing and restoring a 1912 canal boat, reinventing it as a community venue for storytelling, music and boat trips.
Kilsby is moored at Tooley’s historic boatyard awaiting restoration works that will enable her to make the trip back home to Oxford.
For more information visit www.oxfordcanalfestival.com.
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About the author
Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here.
He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.
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