No damp squib: revellers hoist anchor despite ‘danger’ warning
Revellers on the Regent's Canal. Photograph: Gabriel Gauffre.
There has been a large turnout by partygoers on the Regent’s Canal for an event organisers had warned could be “genuinely dangerous”.
The Canalival – a water-based shindig featuring dinghies, DJs and lots of fancy dress – was cancelled at the last minute on Thursday night and the Canal and River Trust said the combination of inadequate safeguards and free-flowing alcohol could be a “recipe for disaster”.
The event’s official Facebook page talked of “waterborne pathogens” and “concealed sharp objects” and said the numbers expected to attend the loosely-organised event had gotten out of hand – but hundreds of people heaved away in rafts, lilos and other craft in spite of the warnings.
The cancellation of the event was widely ridiculed on Facebook, where Alistair Tait wrote: “Why have you spent the last three months promoting the hell out of this event (which was almost at capacity last year with almost no promotion) only to pull it at the last minute??? Didn’t you see this problem coming?
“We all did. People have now spent lots of time and money getting ready for this and you have to imagine the vast majority are still going to turn up tomorrow.”
Other comments included “Sounds like Basil Fawlty organised this” and “Victims of your own success eh? Reminds me of the time I opened a match.com account and nearly crashed their server…”
According to the Spacehive crowdfunding website where over £3000 was pledged to stage the event, Canalival was organised by a group called Animal Control which also stages flashmobs.
Money pledged on Spacehive is expected to be refunded.
I was visiting a friend who lives in Hackney, having left Hackney a few years back after nearly two decades there. My friend is thinking of moving after today’s shambolic event.
Revellers today were pissing on people’s properties. Bottles were thrown onto resident’s balconies.
The towpath was left in an awful state. It stinks of urine, beer, vodka and puke. The river is in a worst state, with tons of empty beer bottles, plastic cups, costumes floating downstream.
Only a handful of people stayed to clean up, the rest just went home to post on Facebook about how much fun they had today, while it is once again the local residents who has to put up with cleaning the mess left by outsiders.
Here’s a taste of what the event was like. A timelapse video of Canalival.
What a fantastic day out.
Like your friend, I’ve been looking at properties in the area after canalival. It should be a weekly event in the summer.
Not only was the towpath and canal messed up, a lot of the revellers, by now buzzing with booze and the fine weather, stayed on at the end point of the event and swarmed into Broadway Market and its surrounding residential streets. A lot of them just hung around drinking more. Result? More pissing in the streets and people’s gardens and bottles, cans, bits of boats and whole dinghies left strewn around. There are still bottles and cans in my street this afternoon, which will remain there until the council comes on Thursday to collect them (although we residents will, as before, have to dispose them ourselves). The revellers might have a great time on the canal, but this was an incredibly badly organised event which has no chance of being repeated again without some serious planning and effective management – of the event on the canal itself and the management of the boozed-up crowds when the canal event finishes.
The most incredibly ironic aspect of this whole sorry affair is the way the organisers of the original, cancelled ‘Canalival’ describe why they want to put on the event, on their Facebook page:
“Lots of people are unaware of our canal network and we strive to raise awareness of this amazing natural beauty by showing people that the canals of London belong to them.”
and:
“General Information
CANALIVAL IS A NOT FOR PROFIT, CROWD FUNDED EVENT WITH A LEAVE NO TRACE POLICY. ANY FUNDS LEFT OVER WILL BE DONATED TO THE CANAL & RIVER TRUST CHARITY WHO MAINTAIN THE CANALS.”
The organisers should not be refunding the people who paid into the event, they should be donating the entire sum of £3,000 to the clear up.
Friends visiting were shocked to see Londoners purposely destroying one of the last few public places. Where they come from, they respect their canals and rivers as a public outdoor space everyone, humans and wildlife alike. The organisers and those who decided to turn up and join the ‘party’ should be ashamed of their behaviour. They should not be allowed to call themselves Londoners.Friends visiting were shocked to see Londoners purposely destroying one of the last few public places. Where they come from, they respect their canals and rivers as a public outdoor space everyone, humans and wildlife alike. The organisers and those who decided to turn up and join the ‘party’ should be ashamed of their behaviour. They should not be allowed to call themselves Londoners.
I live in Hackney & I went to Canalival and thought it was a great day out. In light of comments on the above article, I have two points to make:
1: Have all the ‘angry residents’ forgotten that the canals were built by industrialists (around 200 years ago) for commercial use to make money from carrying goods. They are not natural rivers so any talk of damaging a fragile ecosystem is not really a very good argument.
2: When events such as festivals/concerts are increasingly commercialised and often cost £100+ for a ticket, it is little wonder that (mainly) young people will come together and make their own event like this. We pay council tax, we pay income tax (at a higher rate than Google/Amazon), some people (like myself) even paid for a day licence to the Canal & Rivers Trust so on balance, we are contributing to ‘the system’ and all have a right to use the waterway. I understand that in a large group of people, there will always be some idiots causing trouble, but overall most people were behaving well.
On a final note, most of the ‘complaining residents’ are not born and bred Hackney people anyway, they are settlers who came to the borough as the area became gentrified. And now, when something that they don’t like the look of happens, they complain! As Londoners, we should all make more of this great resource in future. When the council supports it with proper stewarding/litter-picking/toilets, it can then be an event that everyone is happy with.
Absolutely disgusting that Hackney Council were not on hand to stop this from taking place. Unfortunately Hackney Council’s Noise Pollution team have turned a blind eye to the increasing noise issues along the canal and the Canal & River Trust say they are powerless to do anything even though they issue barges with licences. Last night, I witnessed damage to people’s homes, countless people urinating in our communal space, drunken revellers stamping on a family of moorhens, people breaking into a downstairs’ neighbours gardens… not to mention the ear-splitting noise. I’m also very surprised that no-one drowned considering the hundreds of drunken people in the water. There seems to be a very real disregard for the local community from those in any positions in authority.
Victor77: Yep, that’s Hackney Council for you – I suspect they see the disruption and complete wrecking of this part of the canal (one of the area’s most cherished resources) as an acceptable effect of getting the drunken, shouty hipsters to set up homes in Hackney. The council seems starry-eyed to the new ‘creatives’ money. I can think of another word to describe these ‘creatives’ and it also starts with ‘c’.
I think those responsible for this event should be held to account and made to clean up their mess. I also feel sorry for the numerous wildlife families along the canal, all of whom are raising young at this time of year. Their are swans, geese, moorhens and coots all with nexts along the canal side and i saw drunken idiots ramming their boats into the bushes where they nest. I enjoy a party as much as anyone else, but you can’t let a bunch of disrespectful out of control hipsters all trying to impress each other with how cool they are loose in a nature reserve. Where were the police to nip this thing in the bud? To the organisers: TIDY UP YOUR MESS YOU DICKHEADS (including all the sunken rubbish in the canal)
BillE8,It comes as no surprise that this event was allowed to go on.A festival was held last year in shoreditch park.It closed the park for ten days.The noise and anti social behaviour sounds the same as what was experienced here.We complained to our councillors and havent seen them since.we were promised no more such festivals but the council have now taken money for the next one.The council are committed to giving the idea that hackney is some kind of laid back place where anything goes.I dont know how much damage was caused but surely the police must take some of the resposibility.
This was a great party. The litter wasn’t a problem as the canal is just a giant rubbish bin anyway, Hackney is like so cool, where else can you get drunk, shit in peoples gardens, stamp on baby birds and throw bottles at cyclists, while the police stand around and look the other way?
look the important thing here is that lots of people had a right royal knees up! what a day. Sod the rubbish, its gone now and was completely worth it. As for all this nonsense about the wildfowl, dont lie, they are fine and also porbably had a great time on saturday, unlike Bill and co.
I also agree it should be a weekly event!
Remain Indoors!
Two sides to every story. Some people loved it, some hated it. On one hand, it was colourful, good natured on the whole and positive in spirit. On the other it was potentially fatally dangerous, awful for local residents and wildlife alike and hard work for the few police officers down there. Irresponsible on the part of the organisers to pull out and leave it to police, residents and switched on party goers to manage. However, due to our litiginous time, no wonder they rowed for the shore. There’s no excuse for exposing yourself and defecating in someone’s front garden when the kids are out playing but give people enough booze/food without toilet provisions and they will. They will do it full view in the street if necessary . On the whole a good natured event with a minority who evidentially have no respect for people, environs or property when drunk. Needs looking at for next year.
WATERY RAVE.
I fear jim’s comments will come back and haunt him for a very long time. This is a public access blog I believe?
If this were an annual event let alone a weekly event then I think the crimes for Hackney would spike considerably as fed up residents accost the prats like Jim and other apologists.