A Big Boating Adventure - Part Four

 I have so many things to catch up with in my blog that I have been worrying about where to start, but my human guardian Polar has helped, by treating us Bears to a new book for our Libeary.

It's called Paddington at the Carnival and is about Paddington Bear going to the Cavalcade Festival at Little Venice.  The pictures include all sorts of little details that Hanley Bear and I recognised from our visit in the spring, such as the little blue bridges and the island with willow trees in the middle of The Pool.

We were there in April and May, arriving several days before Cavalcade.  Our human guardian Polar and I took the train home for a couple of days, to collect post and check on the garden and allotment, and she did some things for work too, while Grizzly and the other bears did jobs on Uppie the narrowboat.  When Polar and I got back, we all had a great day out at the Tower of London, which I will blog about another day, as this post is all about Cavalcade.

The Cavalcade Festival has been running since well before I became a Boating Bear - in fact, this was the 40th anniversary of the first Cavalcade.  Polar and Grizzly had been once before, ten years ago, but our friends Mrs Chrissie and Mr Alan had been lots of times, because Mrs Chrissie did lots of publicity and organising for the event, which was easier when they lived in London but now they live in Worcestershire, which makes things trickier!

Cavalcade takes place over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend and there are things happening every day. There are stalls selling food and drink, hats and clothes, all sorts of crafts and souvenirs, draws, tombolas and raffles, and information stands for many good causes.  Best of all, The Pool at Little Venice fills with dozens of narrow boats, decked out in flags and bunting, which is an absolutely marvellous sight. 

I was a very busy small bear, as I was reporting on the event for our Inland Waterways Branch Facebook page and for Bear Twitter.  It was so busy that I had to ask Polar to carry me around in the Bear Bag, as I was worried about being stepped on or accidentally kicked into the water, and I had a much better view from there too.

 

We had lots of visitors from Polar and Grizzly's friends and families over the weekend, including several of human cubs who really enjoyed their days looking at all the boats and picnicking beside the canal.  We bears made sure there was always plenty of cake on board for our visitors, and for snacks between hugs for us. 

And I spotted a very famous bear visiting another boat, but didn't manage to catch him for an interview.  

On Sunday, all of us Bears put our best boating clothes and our boaters' belts on.  Some of the humans on the boats dressed in their Sunday Best too, although Polar and Grizzly hadn't brought bonnets or waistcoats and bowler hats - we hope they will if we go again!

Sunday was a busy day, with more visitors, the Blessing of the Boats and our human guardian Polar taking part in the Boat Handling Competition.  Unfortunately, she had to do her manoeuvres at the same time as the Teddy Bears' Picnic was happening in the park.  We were very sad that we couldn't go, until she told us we were going to be helping her with the competition!

  

We sat in the lifebelt on the roof and waved to all the other boaters and the crowd as Polar steered our boat around the island in the middle of The Pool, avoiding the trip boats and the other competitors.  She did very well bringing the boat alongside the judges' landing stage to shake hands and started reversing back across The Pool very neatly, but made the mistake of waiting for another boat coming out to start the competition when she was half way across and the wind caught our bow and spoilt our reverse between the marker buoys.

We felt sorry for Polar, as she was trying to be polite and kind, but she was still runner up in the Women's Boat Handling class (out of more than two!) and won a bottle of prosecco, so she was quite pleased.

   

On Sunday evening there was a lovely parade of illuminated boats around The Pool, and all the boats moored in The Pool had lights and bunting out for the occasion.  Our boat didn't take part so we could wander around with our human guardians enjoying the spectacle.  I thought it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen on the canals, and all of the other bears agreed.

Monday was the last day, and it was bright and sunny again.  We had more visitors to show around and were pleased that there was still plenty to see, including musicians on some of the boats.

    

But during the afternoon, boats started drifting away and the stalls started packing up.  Polar and Grizzly helped to pack away the IWA gazebos and did sweeping up and litter picking.  

We felt sad that the festival was over but it certainly wasn't the end of our adventures, as Polar and Grizzly had decided we weren't going to go straight home, but would explore some waterways they hadn't travelled before.

 

But I will tell you more about that in another post or two!