Totally Thames — London’s annual celebration of everything riverine — is back this September. Here, we dip our toe into the cultural waters, to bring you our pick of events.
Hosted by the Thames Festival Trust, Totally Thames runs across 20 boroughs (including the City) from 1-30 September 2026. It’s awash with exhibitions, performances, art installations, boat trips, walks, talks and more — all designed to help you learn about, and appreciate, the Thames. London’s multitude of other rivers, docks, and beaches are celebrated too.
Here’s a smattering of happenings that’ve caught our eye:
🌊 Kayaking for Beginners at Kew Bridge (5-6 Sept): Newbies to kayaking can take to the water with the help of Chelsea Kayak Club experts, at these Kew Bridge taster sessions.
🌊 Culture Cargo (5-19 Sept): The sailing barge SB Raybel is transformed into a floating venue, staging live music, conversations and more as it flits from Gravesend to St Katharine Docks to Royal Docks.
🌊 Scratching Out a Living: The Medieval Female Proletariat (12 Sept) Laura Agustín takes you on a walk along the Thames, where you’ll ‘meet’ six medieval women — scullery maid, victualler, laundress, alewife, sex worker, huckster — who once worked and lived here.
🌊 Sing For Water (12 Sept): Over 40 choirs join forces to form a ‘super choir’, singing a repertoire of (we assume) water-themed songs at the Oxo Tower Courtyard.
🌊 Great River Race (12 Sept) 250+ boat crews compete in this extraordinary marathon along the Thames from Millwall to Richmond.
🌊 Ganga Aarti on the Thames (13 Sept): This free afternoon/evening out at Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College features food, music, live entertainment and cultural celebration inspired by Indian traditions, culminating with a Ganga Aarti, a traditional ceremony of light giving thanks to the river.
🌊 Turning the Tide (17-20 Sept): The columns of the disused Blackfriars Railway Bridge become a canvas for Turner Prize-nominated artist Catherine Yass’ installation, which makes visible Deaf/deaf and disabled people, and is created in partnership with disabled-led theatre company Graeae.
🌊 Where the River Holds Us (27-28 Sept): Helen Epega presents this multisensory, site-responsive opera, which blends music, storytelling and audience participation, inviting us to explore our relationship with water, climate and place.
Totally Thames, London-wide, 1-30 September 2026. Some events are paid-for, others are free. Find out more on the official website.
