Burnley Canal Festival

Shekina Rose, Families Editor

Visit now

Burnley Canal Festival

27 August 2023

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Burnley Canal Festival 2022
Book now

Enjoy a free, family event at the Burnley Canal Festival this summer, happening next-to and on the water at the newly refurbished Finsley Gate Wharf on Sunday 27 August. Experience Burnley’s unique canal-side heritage and celebrate the special things about Burnley that can sometimes be overlooked!

The festival will be a chance to get involved with lots of family-friendly and creative activities and make some special memories. Get hands on with interactive workshops such as paper flower making, botanical workshops, colouring stations, henna, free face-painting, screen-printing and monster creation (to name a few!). Families will also love the ‘Rag and Tag’ road show, a pop-up scrapstore, studio and stage which invites people of all ages to reuse, create and play!

Watch engaging live ‘walkabout’ performances, including Paris Bubbles, Mother Nature (who is on the hunt to pick up litter),  and the giant sloth! Tap your toes to an array of live music, from Bollywood and jazz to indie folk rock! Be transported along the canal on the water bus, canoes and Super Slow Way’s beautiful library boat, for those of you who love to read!

Younger canal-goers at the Festival might want to have a go at the Towpath Explorers Trail. The trail will take you on a real Burnley canal adventure, revealing some of the canal-side’s hidden and best kept secrets…  But where will you go? What will you find!?

After all that fun, take a moment to amble the Makers Market in the Mile Room, with unique works of art and crafts, fabrics, jewellery, food and drink and so much more to buy for yourself or to take away for someone else.

When you’re ready for a full-on sit down and some tasty food and drink, there’s loads of places available to quench your thirst and fill your tummy, with delicious ice cream, mouth-watering Indian street food and lots more.

Burnley Canal Festival is a fantastic chance for Burnley locals and visitors to get together and celebrate Burnley as a place as well as the arts and creativity thriving here. So for a free, fun day out, head on down to the Burnley Canal Festival at Finsley Gate Wharf, from 11am-5pm.

Where to go near Burnley Canal Festival

Manchester
Gallery
Black Redstart Gallery

Black Redstart Gallery is located in the Northern Quarter and runs a busy programme of exhibitions from emerging and established artists.

RJC Dance Xmas Show
Leeds
RJC Dance

RJC Dance, based in Chapeltown, Leeds, champions youth and education, leading inclusive Black dance in the North through national partnerships.

texture logo
Manchester
Gallery
texture mcr

Possibly one of the city’s most mysterious art galleries, texture is a small and perfectly-formed independent space in Ardwick.

The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park
Bradford
Park
Cliffe Castle Park

Cliffe Castle Park hosts the Beacon, a stunning performance space that will be touring the district throughout Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

What's on: Families

Haphazard 2025 at Z-arts
FamiliesManchester
Haphazard 2025 at Z-arts

A free day of bizarre behaviour and exciting live performance at Z-arts. Expect the unexpected. Playful, unpredictable, and not easily forgotten.

Free entry
Topsy Turvy
Families
Topsy Turvy 25

Theatre Porto’s joyful outdoor celebration returns to Whitby Park this summer with another wonderfully topsy-turvy weekend of art, performance and playful surprises. Taking over the park from 7–10 August, Topsy

From £5.50

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North.
Theatre in the North

From outdoor shows to drama in the dark, our theatre guide celebrates genre-pushing work, new writing and contemporary performance.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Two women stand next to an orange car.
Cinema in the North

August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
Music in the North

From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.