Edinburgh Canal Festival fills the Union Canal at Fountainbridge with boats, music and community stalls

On a cloudless June day, crowds flocked to the banks of the Union Canal for the Edinburgh Canal Festival, a free celebration of one of the city's most loved waterways.

The five-hour community open day spread across three zones at Fountainbridge Green, Lochrin Basin and Leamington Bridge. There was music, canoe polo, model boats, face painting and even a mermaid, along with stalls run by local schools including Dalry Primary and Boroughmuir High School. Polwarth Parish Church hosted an open doors day and quiet space, and children enjoyed activities across the site while local organisations showed off their work, all free of charge.

Lochrin Basin featured groups including Edinburgh Model Boats, Edinburgh Living Streets, the Woodland Trust, the Edinburgh Community Climate Action Network, Four Sisters Boatels, the Forth Canoe Club and Re-Union Canal Boats. At Leamington Bridge, visitors found St Andrews Boat Club, which has promoted rowing for all since 1846, along with Edinburgh Printmakers, which is based nearby in the former rubber mill, and community groups offering crafts and activities. Around Fountainbridge, Fountainbridge Library, the Pentland Scout Group, The Sorted Project and the trust's own greenspace group joined in, with food from Coorie Pizza and Linzer Baker aboard the Lochrin Belle. Other stalls included the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain, Home Start and Corstorphine First Aid.

The festival is organised by the Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust, a charity based at the Scottish Canals office on Lower Gilmore Place. The summer programme continued with a Picnic in the Park in July and a raft race finale in August, with special guest Andy Chung, canal boat trips and fun for all ages. The trust also produced a free summer zine to accompany the events.

The festival is a chance to see how many clubs, charities and businesses make use of it, and to try something new on the water.

The trust thanked everyone who came along, and photographs from the day have been shared on its social media.

News about next year's festival and the trust's work is on the Edinburgh Canal Festival website.