Thousands of people turned out to make Monmouth “merry” when the free Wye Valley River Festival brought music and entertainment to the town on Saturday.
Members of the community young and old joined the Merry Monmouth procession down Monmouth High Street, which was packed with families in the Bank Holiday Weekend sunshine.
Art installations, giant puppets, interactive dance theatre groups and craft workshops drew more than 3000 people to Drybridge Park as part of the Monmouth Mischief programme, produced by festival organisers to delight people from the town as Monmouth recovers from the severe flooding which struck last autumn.
Among the highlights of the morning parade was eight-foot puppet Daniel, an ancient man of the earth carrying a large dandelion and conducted by Luke Brown Company, and Flock, a murmuration of giant silk birds made by hundreds of local people in pre-festival workshops.
The procession also included two giant puppets made from natural materials by schoolchildren and an array of May Day performers and creatures, led by energetic street band the Wodwose.
The events in Drybridge Park included performances by Cornish artist Seamas Carey as a people-hating character out to organise an instant community, interactive comedy performers Kitsch & Sync Collective’s romantic Dating Agency show plus artist and storyteller Holly Foskett-Barnes, who revived the ancient Celtic tradition of “telling the bees” key life events.
The Soapbox Sessions saw compere Annabelle Holland marshal 10 minute speeches and there was a choice of seven arts workshops on the day.
Held every two years, the Wye Valley River Festival is created by local communities, environmentalists and artists in the Wye Valley’s internationally important landscape.
In preparation for the 2026 event, organisers worked with schools and held free workshops for local people to create artwork.
Artistic director Phillippa Haynes, of Wye Valley River Festival CIC, said: “Thank you Monmouth and our amazing audiences for bringing sunshine and joy to the town and great happiness to the Wye Valley River Festival Team.
“Drybridge Park was transformed into a magical place of colour, laughter, creativity, making and thought provoking performance and discussions, with more than 3000 people attending throughout the day to experience the programme of activities.
“We want to thank you all for the love and wonderful feedback that you have given us so far. Seeing so many people having such a great creative time makes all of the hard work worth it.”
For 2026, organisers encouraged families to visit Monmouth, which was devastated in November when Storm Claudia brought flooding to 200 homes and about 120 businesses, to thank the local community which has supported the festival since 2014.
Local schools made artwork to feature, including Weston Under Penyard C E Primary School, Ashfield Park Primary School, Llandogo Primary School, Clearwell C of E Primary School, Lydbrook Primary School, Kymin View Primary School and Trellech Primary School.
