A FESTIVAL celebrating Worcester’s river and canals is taking place over the next ten days.

Art, music, dance, poetry, food, and drink will feature in the festival, held at South Quay, on a purpose-built shimmering pavilion.

The Weorgoran Pavilion was created by architecture and design studio NEON as part of The Ring arts programme which has been running this spring and will continue through the summer.

Cathy Mager, artistic director of The Ring Arts said: “Rivers and waterways can be great places for art, visual art and music. They are not used for industry anymore so the arts are a good way to enjoy rivers.

“The festival will bring together the flavours of Worcester, and the stage is inspired by the winding river. We really want to bring things that the public will be interested, intrigued and surprised by.”

Among the varied line of of artists will be a beat boxer who appeared on ITVs Britain’s Got Talent.

Dave Crowe, from Ledbury has performed in Japan since appearing on the popular TV programme.

He headlined the opening performances yesterday with a lively mix of funk and beatbox sounds.

Mr Crowe said: “The waterways of this beautiful landscape have linked the communities for millennia, yet they reflect at all times the vastness of the skies that bring us the water flow needed to have such a precious link with one another.”

Mark Nixon, from NEON, said: “The stage was inspired by waterways and the architecture lining the riverbanks. There’s these amazing curved walls. The stage also mimics the atmospheric effect of the top of the water and makes you feel like you are immersed in water.”