Glasgow River Festival

Glasgow River Festival (GRF) is an annual festival held here in Glasgow on the River Clyde and its banks over Glasgow Fair weekend. This year, the festival was held on 14-15 July. It is a great event for those who are into ships and boats and other maritime stuff specifically and those who enjoy great day's out generally. Held at the Clyde Waterfront, not only you can see the historical landmarks of Glasgow such as the Tall Ship but you also get to enjoy some of Glasgow’s more modern architectures such as the Glasgow Science Centre and the Clyde Auditorium.

Landmarks aside, there are loads of boats, ships and other floating vessels of all shapes and sizes throughout this festival, some of which taking part in races while others are for display. You can even climb aboard for a look around on some of them, which has historical significance one way or another such as the MV Kyles, the Pole Star etc for free. There is also Zapcat racing, which is pretty fast and exciting and is part of the Zapcat National Championships. You could even go for powerboat rides, try rowing and sail on board the steam engine boats. They mentioned duck races as well but did not see any while we were there. Oh we also saw a demonstration of how Bells Bridge, one of the bridges on River Clyde can be swung to let tall ships pass.

Meanwhile, on the riverbanks and around the Science Centre, there is also loads of entertainment happening – funfair, bands, crafts etc. There was this huge balloned slide that I would love to get on but I was too old for it. *sigh*. More info on the festival here.

Free SPT(local bus company) shuttle buses were provided throughout the festival weekend. There were regular departures from several locations within the city center and also outwith Glasgow. We boarded.. chewaah we got on one of these buses at West George Street, in front of the Queen Street Station. Surprisingly there was no queue at all. Since it is one of the double decker buses, we took this opportunity to sit right in front on the top floor. Feels a bit like on a roller coaster ride.

We arrived at Clyde Waterfront just before 1 pm. There was already a huge crowd there. So, without wasting any time, snap snap snap. Weather was great (but photos look gloomy somehow..hmm) and I had a lot of fun.