Thames River Festival

Saturday was such a beautiful day here in London that no one wanted to stay indoors. We headed out to the Thames River that divides London in half for the annual celebration of the Thames Festival. Up and down the river, there were all sorts of festivities, including entertainment, food, boat rides, a night parade, and a fabulous fireworks show that we saw from the terrace on top of our home later that night. We headed to the Southwark Bridge which spans the river at one of its more narrow points. The bridge was closed to motorists so that the Feast on the Bridge could be set up. Spanning the length of the bridge were two long tables, draped with cloths and decorated with flowers.

Food from local area restaurants was featured. You could choose from paella,

meatball sandwiches, grilled burgers,

sausage and onions on baps (buns) or a whole host of a variety of ethnic foods.

Those with a sweet tooth might have been tempted by the bowls of strawberries and cream,

the many flavors of brownies,

or little cakes with a London flair.

There was quite a party atmosphere, with the opportunity to tread grapes for wine,

bob for apples,

or watch apples being pressed into fresh juice.

One of the big hits was the Beast on the Bridge, an iced cake which was 6 meters long.

The children were encouraged to decorate the cupcakes to finish him out.

And if you were lucky enough to stay until 5 PM, you could participate in the slaying of the beast and then help yourself to a taste.

One of my favorite exhibits was the Flower Pot People who had created hats from flower pots.

Caught this photo of my husband trying one on. This doesn't make him a "pot-head" does it?

What a fun way to celebrate the final days of summer, as autumn has been teasing us since then with rain, wind and chillier weather. We're headed away for a couple of days to the beautiful villages in the Cotswolds. Hope we can find a little bit of good weather along the way. I'll post some photos soon.