Planning your day

The Rickmansworth Festival occupies a site which runs along the Grand Union Canal between Batchworth and Stockers Locks and a significant part of the Aquadrome Park. The Festival is open from 10.30am to 10.30pm on Saturday and from 10.30am to 5.30pm on Sunday. Plan for at least half a day for your visit to ensure you can enjoy some of the varied entertainment and attractions on offer.

The entertainment schedule for the most recent  Festival in 2023 can be downloaded here.  

The on line copy of the full 2023 Festival programme is also available here.

Some of the highlights of the different areas of the site include: -

• Batchworth Lock - Boat Trip booking office and departure point; Batchworth Lock Canal Centre with books, gifts and ice creams; Batchworth Lock Eduction Centre featuring an Art Exhibition organised by the Rickmansworth and District Art Society; Café at Lock 81; historic wooden working boat “Roger”; entertainment stage; toilets.
• Batchworth Sea Scouts Arena - featuring live music, BBQ and bar.
• Canal Tow Path - Displays of visiting historic working boats and decorated pleasure craft; boat tug of war; catering; boaters information point and other exhibitors.
• Aquadrome - Trade, craft and charity stalls; main entertainment stage; main catering area and real ale beer tent; Environment Fair; Living History displays; Fun Fair; and many other attractions.

And please - don't forget to make a donation to the Trust's education work.

We don't make a charge for admission - everyone's welcome! But we rely very heavily on the donations made by our visitors to the Festival, into which our volunteers put many hundreds of hours' work.

We suggest that you might like like to donate £2.50 for each person coming in - you'll find our collectors without much problem!   

Getting to the Festival

Public Transport - The Festival is only a short walk from Rickmansworth town centre which is served by Rickmansworth Station on the London Underground Metropolitan Line and also numerous buses such as the 320, 321 and 724 operated by Arriva, the 336 operated by Carousel Buses and the R21 operated by Red Rose Travel.

Car - The Official Festival Car park (£4 all day) is on Stockers Farm Road which is accessed from Harefield Road. We have to make a charge for this as we have to pay to use the land and to run the car park. This provides easy access to both ends of the Festival site. Other car parks are available in Rickmansworth Town centre which are free all day on Sunday but limited to 1 hour free or up to 4 hours paid parking on Saturday. Pay long stay car parks are also available in the town centre.

Please Note: On the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival the Aquadrome Car Park is reserved for Registered Disabled visitors and Festival Permit holders only.

Download a map of the Festival site and its location in relation to Rickmansworth Town Centre.