If you love the Little Venice area, plan to visit it during the IWA Canalway Cavalcade (IWA stands for Inland Waterways Association), an annual historical parade that always happens in May. This year it falls on the 2nd to the 4th of May.

Little Venice is one of the prettiest areas of London I’, happy to call home for over 12 years. The famous Grand Union Canal is rolling over about 220 km long to connect London and Birmingham. The oldest parts of it are over 200 years old: the canal system wasn’t constructed as a whole entity from the very beginning, and a lot of branches were added to the older ones as the time passed.

Several branches of it – such as Paddington Basin and Regent’s canal – contributed to the area’s name. It’s unknown who was the first person to come up with an idea of the calling this area “little Venice”. Some say that probably it was Robert Browning who lived here, others – that Lord Byron made a comparison between this part of London and La Serenissima.

The IWA Canalway Cavalcade is an annual historical parade that always happens in May (in 2024, it fell on 4-6 May). That’s a water festival for everyone: there are stalls with food, vendors selling handmade goodies and books, kids’ rides, and, of course, dozens of colourful narrowboats! 

There are quite a few of these stalls around on both sides of the canal, and you can choose whatever you like as there are things for every taste.

These narrowboats, specifically designed to navigate the narrow canals of London, were once a crucial part of the city’s commercial transport system. They played a significant role in the British Industrial Revolution, a historical fact that adds to the cultural richness of the event.

Now you can still see some such boats on Regent canals (spot traditional decorations of roses and castles!) and around the Paddington and Little Venice people live on those boats, choosing to make them their homes – there are over 8000 of such floaty homes registered with over 30000 such boats in London licensed in total!

During the cavalcade, you can see dozens of those traditional narrow boats with their owners on board, including even dogs! You can also ride along the canal on one of those narrowboats not only during this event but also on ordinary days. Just check the cruises online in advance.

You might also like blogs about Great Britain including:

• Oxford 
• Bath
• Brighton
• Eastbourne 
• York: guide
• York: museums 
• Durham 
• 12 day-trips from London
• Top-ten British cities 
• Bibury 
• Lewes Castle
• Wimpole Hall 
• Cottesbrooke Estate
• Waverley Abbey 
• English Lavender 
• The Grove Hotel 
• Rushton Hotel and Spa
• Christmas holidays in British countryside
• Windsor Castle
• Jersey

Hope you enjoyed my new blog,
Yours,
Anna xxx