Boat trips, Punch & Judy, music and dance entertained the many visitors to the annual Angel Canal Festival this month. All three community boats from Islington Boat Club, Laburnum Boat Club and the Canal Museum offering trips on the Peggoty Tom, Opportunity and Long Tom, ‘hardly stopped for breath’, said organisers. The trips raised nearly £800 for their charity activities.

Elsewhere the Hackney Community Orchestra, Punch & Judy, London Morris dancers and other entertainers delighted the crowds, and no less than five Pearly Kings, Queens and Pearly baby Princess, honoured the day. The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Jason Jackson and his Consort, Tatiana, spent time talking to stallholders and participants. The pair also gained their Angel Wings courtesy of the Church Army, there to raise funds for their work with homeless women.

Organiser Sasha Keir said: “The festival went very well and we had glorious weather. It was a friendly, positive community atmosphere with loads to do and at very little cost.”

Angel Canal Festival is set to return next year on Sunday, September 7, 2025 – so watch this space for updates.