North Paddington Canalside Festival
The festival will be a vibrant, community-driven celebration designed to build long-term connection to the canal through awareness, ownership, and joy.
Half Penny Steps Footbridge Public Art Commission
North Paddington Canalside Festival
The North Paddington Canalside Festival animated the public space alongside the canal under the Westway flyover.
The festival was a vibrant, community-driven celebration designed to build long-term connection to the canal through awareness, ownership and joy.
It invited local people to explore the canal’s history and ecology, encouraged care and stewardship of the space, and celebrated its potential through arts, nature and watersports.
Across four weekends in September 2025, the festival delivered a programme of locally led activities:
Saturday 6 September – Biodiversity
Saturday 13 September – Health and wellbeing
Saturday 20 September – Culture and creativity
Saturday 27 September and Sunday 28 September – Finale
The festival helped establish the canalside as an emerging destination ahead of permanent public realm improvements. These improvements will transform a previously dark and underused space into a welcoming place for local residents and visitors alike.
All activities were free and open to the public.
Take a look at the Engagement Report below which summarises the impact of the festival.
Read the Engagement Report here:
Frequently Asked Questions
North Paddington Canalside Attendee Survey
Thank you for joining the North Paddington Canalside festival! The following survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and will ask for your views on the festival and North Paddington Canalside spaces.
Please scan the QR code on the poster below to complete the survey.
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North Paddington Canalside Festival Attendee Survey
Please complete a short survey to tell us about your experience.
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