BOATERS from all over the country will float into Middlewich on Friday for a weekend of folk music.

The 25th Folk and Boat Festival will take place from this Friday, June 19, and will go until Sunday, June 21, and organisers are expecting huge crowds to help celebrate the special anniversary event.

Dave Thompson, Middlewich Town Council events manager, said in its 25 years, the festival has now grown so much that it benefits the whole surrounding area.

Dave said: “It’s not just the town anymore that benefits from it it’s the whole area. It’s amazing, you don’t notice it but when you’re trying to book three twin rooms in a hotel for the Saturday night you see that everywhere is full up. Even surrounded towns like Northwich and Winsford are full up.”

“The whole weekend is just like a train you can’t stop. I like to look to the festival as a whole from the fringe venues to the live stages to the canals. Some people won’t get to see all of it because they’ll be quite happy to sit in one pub listening to the music and that’s fine but I’d encourage people to go around and see it all.”

This year, the organisers are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the festival with some new additions to the weekend such as boat trips, a cocktail bar and a much bigger floating market after last year’s success.

Dave added: “What we have more of is the floating market because it worked so well last year and this year the whole stretch of the canal is fully booked.

“We’re also doing boat trips this year from Town Wharf with the Canal and River Trust.

“People keep saying here’s to the next 25 years but I don’t even want to think about that.”