River Revelry includes…
10 acts including poets, folk musicians, flamenco and singer songwriters, respond to the power of the river through music and spoken word and a beautiful setting beside the River Ouse.
FREE Guided Walks
Meet at the Welcome Desk
Learn more about the Railway Land Nature Reserve and the river that shapes it. Led by local river-lovers and experts, find out more about this very special location.
Places limited, pre-book via eventbrite:
Linklater Pavilion Upstairs
DROP-IN FREE TALKS
11am An Introduction to the Ouse
Peter King, Director, Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust
Overview of the river, the state it’s in, the pressures it’s under, and some of the solutions available.
11.50am The Winterbourne and Cockshut
Marcus Taylor
A look at two streams in Lewes which, though very short, have had significant effects on the town over the centuries.
12.30pm The Ouse, A Changing Climate
Matthew Bird, Lead Cabinet Member for Sustainability Lewes District Council
A talk outlining impacts on the Ouse from past, present and future climate change and how we might develop catchment-resilient communities.
PLUS
Stephanie Mills, Project Development Officer, South Downs National Park Authority
An overview of the National Lottery-funded community-led climate action project.
1.20pm Rights of Rivers: Session 1
Paul Powlesland, Lawyers for Nature
An introduction to the river’s legal status and how it can be granted rights as a living entity.
2.10pm Rights of Rivers: Session 2
Paul Powlesland, with Emma Montlake, Environmental Law Foundation and Duncan Rawson of Love Our Ouse
A facilitated session to assist the audience to draft their own rights of river declaration.
2.50pm Public participation in environmental decision making
Alex Shattock of Landmark Chambers
Find out about opportunities for you to make your voice heard in environmental decisions being made at a local level by
our regulators.
3.30pm Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
Led by Law Students, Sussex University
An important tool in the activist’s chest, the Environmental Information Regulations, akin to Freedom of Information (FOI) are useable by anyone wanting to discover environmental information held by any Public Body.
4.15pm River Question Time Panel
Chaired by Henri Brocklebank, Director Conservation Policy and Evidence at Sussex Wildlife Trust
This is your chance to ‘ask the experts’ everything you’d like to know about our river and how best to take care of it. With representatives from Southern Water, Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, Sussex Flow Initiative and Lewes District Council, alongside the Love Our Ouse team, do take the opportunity
to put your questions to our panel and join the debate.
Linklater Pavilion Downstairs
DROP-IN ALL DAY
Community Mapping
Make your mark in our community mapping session, showing how the river is important to you and flagging up your own key locations. Help build up a picture of the role the River Ouse plays in the heart of local life!
Nature Links Community Action Project
Come and find out about the Railway Land Wildlife Trust’s new project, focusing on building links with our blue and green spaces. Share your ideas and discover how you can get involved!
And much more…
Enjoy contributions from Lewes year 6 pupils in Patina’s Floating ‘Wish Fish’ sculpture display, and contribute to our ‘Rights of Rivers’ action plan, helping draw up a charter to give the Ouse its voice.
Outdoors Activities
River Tales
DROP-IN FREE ACTIVITIES
11am, 1pm, 3pm Storytelling
Listen to the stories the river has to tell us. Local storyteller Jon Mason brings you tales of lives lived by the Ouse, and the dreams and beliefs of Sussex past and present.
12pm Navigating the River
An insight into navigation of the Ouse past and present from experienced yachtsman David Sykes of Lewes Rowing Club.
2pm Swimmers’ Singalong with Tide Mills Choir
Tide Mills Choir will serenade us with songs of the river and sea. All welcome to join our performance of Loudon Wainwright 3rd’s joyous ‘Swimming Song.’
Lyrics here
4pm The river as boundary and barrier
Meet at the Welcome Desk
Local historian John Bleach will discuss various historical aspects about the river from Lewes to the sea, and identify a number of river crossing points – bridges, ferries, fords – that have been in use during the last thousand years or so.
Make a Shoal Workshop
Drop-in throughout the day
Get creative with an artist-led drop-in session for all the family, showing you how to make your own beautiful fish artwork! Our shoal will be displayed close to the mullet’s natural gathering point at the Ouse overflow.
The Swimming Song
Outdoor Swimmers Sing-a-long! Join the Tide Mills Community Choir in singing a live acapella rendition of the wonderful ‘Swimming Song’ as a public celebration of the joy of swimming in the great outdoors! Listen to the song, read the sheet music and choose a part to sing (Top, melody or bottom). Practise during September and come with your swimming spirit on the day! No singing experience necessary. Swim costumes and swim paraphernalia welcome too! Hear the song Top Melody Bottom…
River Village
Stalls include:
Lewes District Council
Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust
Sussex Flow Initiative
The Aquifer Partnership
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Ouse Valley Climate Action Project
Marine Conservation Society
Lewes Climate Hub
Seaford Environmental Alliance
Ouse Angling Preservation Society
Human Nature
Lewes Rowing Club
… and many more
