MALVERN’S brand new four-day Water Festival celebration gets under way this Bank Holiday weekend.
A giant slip ‘n’ slide will feature at the brand new festival which celebrates the role water played in shooting Malvern to worldwide fame.
The event starts on Friday with the dressing of the town’s wells, which this year has a theme of friendship, inspired by the twinning of Malvern and the French spa of Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
Up to 40 wells, springs and water features across the town and the hills will be decorated in celebration of Malvern’s unique water heritage and to raise awareness of their existence and support conservation efforts.
Then on Saturday, between noon and 4pm, there will be a health and wellbeing fair held in Rose Bank Gardens.
The fair will feature a range of activities for people to try, such as pilates, yoga, ‘boot camp’-style fitness, and tai chi, as well as demonstrations and free taster sessions.
Experts will also be on hand to offer advice on nutrition and all aspects of keeping healthy.
A tour of the town’s wells will also be on offer and the regular arts and crafts market will take place on Abbey Road between 10am and 5pm.
On Sunday, the Malvern Outdoor Cinema season begins with a screening of Singin’ in the Rain, the 1952 American movie with Gene Kelly, has been called one of the greatest musicals of all time.
Before the film starts, there will be a concert by the Worcestershire Film Concert Orchestra playing popular tunes from the film and other classic movies.
Gates open at 6.30pm and tickets are available from the Malvern Theatres box office.
A day of watery fun and frolics is planned for Bank Holiday Monday in Priory Park from 11am to 5pm featuring a giant water slide, themed stalls and games on offer for the whole family to enjoy.
Freedom Leisure, which runs the district’s leisure centres, and local sports clubs will also be attending offering a range of new activities for people to try out.
There will also be the chance to taste water from spa towns across the UK, including Malvern’s very own Holywell Malvern Spring Water.
The Well Dressing prize giving ceremony will also take place and there will be a re-enactment of the water cure treatment, believed to treat a range of conditions and championed by people including Florence Nightingale and Lord Tennyson.
Malvern Hills District council leader Phil Grove said: “Water has played such a huge part in Malvern’s history that it’s only right it finally gets its own festival. This will not only be four days of fun but an opportunity to celebrate an important part of the town’s history and heritage.”
