In 1802, famous architect William Jessop proposed installing a dam and lock at Hotwells to create the floating harbour and a £530,000 scheme was approved by Parliament. Construction began in May 1804 and today the Harbour still provides the city with a bustling centre filled with activity. Ever since the iconic festival has become a massive part summertime in Bristol
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Right, here we are at the 2024 Bristol Harbour Festival and the weather's not really playing
00:08ball. I don't know whether that little shower we've just had is it for the day. The Met
00:12office was saying, you know, to expect rain at one o'clock and one o'clock it came.
00:18I think because it does recognise, you know, Bristol is a port. It's been a port from the
00:25day it was, you know, we don't know exactly when it was founded but it's always had that
00:29maritime heritage. And it's now a centre of the leisure industry in Bristol as well.
00:36And there's so many cultural items around it, facilities and so on. And it is just a
00:42fantastic opportunity to celebrate Bristol and the talent we have in the city.
00:46The festival is a great celebration of Bristol's maritime heritage. The steamboats are a small
00:54part of that. But we like to come along and toot our whistles and sound our horns and
01:01generally partake. We've been doing it now for over 20 years. Covid and what have you
01:10got in the way. But apart from that, it's been a great event.
01:16The forgotten bit of events like this, it gives the opportunity for people to enjoy
01:20themselves, to meet with Edinburgh stadians but also people from further afield. And it
01:27does generate that sense of enjoyment. And I think you need to have that in your life
01:31as well. We're all working hard. We are also experiencing a lot of trauma and events going
01:39on in the world and that will tend to make you feel a bit down. This is an opportunity
01:45to come out, enjoy yourself and enjoy the events that are on offer. And one of the great
01:51things about it is it's free. So anybody who is able to get to the city centre is able
01:59to come and enjoy it.