Bedford’s Community Boat, the John Bunyan, will play a major role at the Bedford River Festival to be held over the weekend of July 19th and 20th. As well as the venue for the Mayor of Bedford’s civic receptions alongside the Bedford Embankment, the boat will also lead the illuminated boat flotilla on the Saturday evening.

On the Sunday evening the boat will be open to the public and will run 30-minute cruises along the Embankment from the Victorian Suspension Bridge to the County Bridge and return.  The cost will be £5 a head or £15 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children). The climax of the evening will be a £20 per head “sunset cruise” lasting an hour and a half, during which complimentary champagne and canapés will be served. The boat will leave the Victorian Suspension Bridge at 8.00pm.

Graham Mabbutt, Joint Chair of the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, who own the boat said: “This event crowns what has been a fantastically successful first year of operations.”

“The public cruises we are running on the Sunday evening will give people a chance to see the full scale of the River Festival from the water, and the sunset cruise will round off a grand weekend event.”

Tickets for the Public Cruises can be bought in advance from the Bedford Tourist Information Centre, St. Paul’s Square, Bedford or online at b-mkwaterway.org.uk