Totally Thames is back for September, with a month of events stretching along the river and into some of the communities, landscapes and infrastructure connected to it. We have picked out a few that caught our eye, from an environmental walk around Greenwich Peninsula to photography above the Tideway super sewer.
The Thames is difficult to put into a single category. It is one of London’s best-known views, but it is also a working river, wildlife habitat, transport route, piece of infrastructure and an important part of the lives of the communities along its banks.
That breadth is what makes Totally Thames worth exploring. Running throughout September, the festival brings together walks, exhibitions, performances and river events across London.
Here are some of our picks.
On Saturday 5 September, the Thames Estuary Partnership is leading a free two-hour walk around Greenwich Peninsula looking at the environmental history of the Thames.
Starting on Olympian Way, A Short Introduction to the Thames Estuary follows the story from the Ice Ages through London’s industrial growth and the decline and subsequent recovery of aquatic life in the river.
It is an interesting way into a part of London that we tend to discuss in terms of development, transport and the O2, while the estuary itself continues to change alongside them.
Saturday 5 September, 2pm to 4pm | Free, booking required
Two free outdoor exhibitions are running at Bazalgette Embankment this month.
River of Hope brings together artwork and poetry created by pupils from five Newham secondary schools. Working with artist Shona Watt and poet Dauda Ladejobi, the students have explored climate change and the migration of eels along the Thames.
Alongside it, Thames Lens: Celebrating London’s River includes photography from the annual Thames Lens competition, work celebrating 30 years of the Thames Path and portraits of some of the 25,000 people who worked on London’s 25km Tideway tunnel.
The location adds another layer. Bazalgette Embankment is one of the new public spaces created as part of the Tideway project, sitting above infrastructure built to intercept sewage before it enters the Thames.
We previously explored the Tideway project and the new public realm and art associated with it at an talk last year at Hawkins\Brown.
Both exhibitions are free and can be visited throughout September.
Between 17 and 20 September, Turner Prize-nominated artist Catherine Yass will project a new film installation onto the disused Blackfriars Railway Bridge columns.
For Turning the Tide, Yass has worked with twelve members of disabled-led Graeae Theatre Company’s Young Company, exploring what the Thames and water mean to them as young Londoners.
The wider project has involved Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent children, young people and adults, with an accompanying free exhibition on Peter’s Hill throughout September.
It is also a good reason to see a very familiar piece of London infrastructure doing something completely different for four evenings.
17 to 20 September, 8pm to 10.30pm | Free
The Thames has always carried things as well as people, and Culture Cargo takes that history in an unusual direction.
The restored sailing barge SB Raybel, built in 1920 as a commercial cargo vessel, is travelling from the Thames Estuary towards central London during September, hosting music, performances and conversations along the way.
Its London stops include St Katharine Docks on 12 and 13 September and the Royal Docks on 18 and 19 September.
There is a serious idea beneath the entertainment too: what role could rivers play in moving goods in a lower-carbon city?
Tickets are £12.
One of the festival’s most interesting events is already sold out.
On 13 September, Ganga Aarti on the Thames will bring a Hindu ceremony of light to the river at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, alongside music, food and family activities.
Organised by Chinmaya Mission UK, the event connects a religious tradition centred on reverence for rivers with the Thames in London. Even if you cannot attend this year, it is worth knowing about and watching for again.
There is much more in the programme, including open-water swimming, music, dance, historic vessels, environmental events and installations stretching across the month.
What we like about Totally Thames is that it gives Londoners a reason to encounter the river from a different direction. You may go for the art and find yourself thinking about sewage infrastructure, or book an environmental walk and end up looking differently at a piece of Greenwich you thought you knew.
