About

The Totally Thames Festival returns in September 2024 with events across London celebrating the vibrancy of the river and the importance of safeguarding its environment. There are events for everyone to enjoy, including dance, music, film, mudlark events, walks, talks, foreshore clean-ups, Thames cruises and The Great River Race.

Totally Thames is an annual season of unique, diverse and accessible arts and culture throughout the month of September with activity taking place on, beneath, and along the River Thames.

Launched in 2014, Totally Thames emerged from the idea to expand and replace the hugely successful two-day Thames Festival along the South Bank and Bankside that ran from 1997-2013.

The month-long programme runs the 42-mile stretch of the Thames through working collaboratively with artists, local communities, river interest organisations and businesses.

Each year, programmes range from pop-up performances, boating events, art installations, river clean-ups, live performances, talks, workshops and much more.

Programme: 
Smile in the River: Walking Tours (1st to 29th September) - Book Now
Route: Greenwich | Newham
Come and explore the Thames liquid history river from the scent, sound and colour to the juxtaposition of old and new infrastructural change, histories and development. Exploring the London Docklands: trade, industry, maritime histories and engineering.

Standing Ground (5th to 22nd September) 
Location: Thames-Side Studios Gallery - Harrington Way, Warspite Road, Greenwich, London SE18 5NR
Standing Ground is an artist-curated exhibition, presenting contemporary British artists who explore diaspora and identity through landscape painting. It examines how we navigate our localities through various lenses of cultural heritage in contemporary Britain, bringing together artists from a range of regions and heritages with a focus on the tradition of landscape painting and what it means to paint the contemporary landscape in today’s political climate. 
* No need to book, just come along!

An archaeological landscape walk through the River Thames' past, present and future (7th September) 
Location: IFS Cloud Cable Car Terminal (North Greenwich Terminal) - Edmund Halley Way, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 0FR
As a group, you will follow the riverside path around Greenwich Peninsula, discovering the sculptures installed on The Line and their relationship to maritime and colonial histories, continuing on to the foreshore to learn about responsible and critical mudlarking. Handling of objects from Royal Museums Greenwich will then be facilitated on the foreshore by Cutty Sark, to end the afternoon.
* Recommended age is 16-25, but if you are outside this age bracket and interested, please feel welcome.

Walking Trees Collective X Old Mother Thames (8th September) - Book Now
Location: Deptford Beach - Twinkle Park, 4 Wharf Street, London SE8 3FY
Come and weave stories with the team on the banks of Old Mother Thames! Let's peer deeper into the pulsing artery of our metropolis, down into the digestive tract of our city body. Through listening, drawing, movement, writing and meditation we will explore how she churns up the past with every tidal rise and fall, burping up trinkets of eras gone by. Let's submerge ourselves in muddy imaginings. A LGBTQIA+ inclusive space.
* All are welcome, no previous art-making experience is necessary. 

A Short Introduction to the Thames Estuary (8th September) - Book Now
Location: Olympian Way, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 0FR
Come and join the guided walk around the Greenwich Peninsula to explore the lesser-known environmental past and present of London's famous river. During the walk, in this walk we will discuss the impacts of Ice Ages, how the river and its surrounding area has changed as London grew, the deterioration and revival of aquatic life, and the future. The talk will also highlight that by investing into the recovery of an urban river, it can become a healthy and thriving environment.

BSL Walking Tour of The Line (22nd September) - Book Now
Meeting Point: North Greenwich station (O2 exit), Greenwich Peninsula 
This guided tour of The Line, East London's public art trail, will be led by Martin Glover, a deaf BSL user, architect and art facilitator. The walk will be BSL-interpreted, and introduce participants to installations along the North Greenwich section of The Line, including works by Antony Gormley, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Richard Wilson and Gary Hume. The walk is circular and will start and end at North Greenwich Station (O2 exit).

Martin Glover is a Deaf BSL user, an architect and art facilitator. Across the UK, Martin delivers tours and workshops on contemporary art, architecture, street art, and public art/sculpture. He also manages his Digitspace project, championing better visual art access nationally.

Move and Sketch (28th September) - Book Now
Location: Island Point Community Centre - Sark Mews, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 3PU
For Totally Thames Festival, Trapped in Zone One will be hosting a wellness activity with a walk along the Thames pathway in Greenwich and sketching the landscape from a chosen viewpoint as a group based outdoor creative activity.

Read more here.