The Chalk Rivers Festival

The Chalk Rivers Festival is an afternoon and evening of creativity, conversation, music and connection, bringing people together to celebrate the life, beauty and importance of our rivers.

From the rare chalk streams of southern England, found in only a handful of places around the world, to great rivers that shape landscapes and cultures across continents, waterways connect people, places and ecosystems. The festival invites us to listen more deeply to these living systems and explore what they might teach us about care, reciprocity and our shared future.

As we gather in memory of Mark Lintell, we will explore both recent history and deep time: from the changes our rivers have experienced within living memory to the extraordinary reality that the water flowing through them today is the same water that has cycled through our planet for billions of years.

Through art, storytelling, film, music and discussion, we ask:
What does the river mean to you?

And perhaps more importantly:
What is the river’s voice, and what is it asking of us?

Programme
1pm–5pm
Creative workshops for all ages
– Across The Big Barn, The Granary and the Forest Garden, a programme of hands-on workshops, creative activities and experiences exploring rivers, water, ecology and our connection to place. See full programme below.

Ongoing throughout the day
– Displays created by DRiPS, SERT, Darent Nature Partnership & North-West Kent Countryside Partnership.
– Clay interaction project with South East Rivers Trust.
– Communal painting celebrating life and connection with chalk rivers.
– A rolling programme of films and visual storytelling inspired by rivers, landscapes and environmental stewardship.

5pm–7pm
Speakers, drinks and music
– An evening gathering in The Big Barn featuring inspiring speakers, live music, refreshments and conversation focused on the future of our rivers and the communities that care for them.

Supporting River Conservation
The festival is raising funds for the Darent River Preservation Society (DRiPS), supporting vital work to protect and restore the River Darent.

We are grateful for the support and collaboration of:
The Shoreham Midsummer Festival
Darent River Preservation Society (DRiPS)
South East Rivers Trust
Living Thames
Darent Nature Partnership
The Darent Valley Farm Cluster
Kent Wildlife Trust

We look forward to welcoming you to an afternoon and evening of creativity, reflection and celebration beside the rivers that connect us all.

Please register here

Gates open at 1pm

South East Rivers Trust’s (SERT) Clay interaction project. Visitors will help create a collaborative “Dream River” with clay that changes throughout the festival. Starting with a long, straight, canalised river model, participants can sculpt and add fish, trees, plants, wildlife, people, and other elements to bring the river to life. As the artwork evolves, we will encourage conversations about what makes rivers healthy and welcoming for nature, exploring ideas such as creating gentler banks, adding meanders, and increasing habitat diversity. Participants will physically reshape the river model, changing it from a heavily engineered watercourse into a nature-rich environment that reflects visions of healthier rivers.

Workshops from 1.30pm – 4.30pm

Print Workshop
Create river-themed artworks with Nicole Mollett using etching methods with recycled tetrapak. There will be plenty of images available to use as inspiration, or maybe you have your own favourite river creature to draw? Nicole has worked with the Darent Valley Landscape Partnership over the last ten years and knows the valley well. She has also led several regeneration projects in North Kent, many with a river or maritime theme, highlighting the vital importance of water in our lives.

Willow workshop
Work with softened willow and gathered materials to make your own river figure – maybe a fantastic fish, a dramatic dragonfly, or a beautiful butterfly – to take away with you. Anything goes! Lucy Cahill will be guiding the workshop, with all materials available. She loves connecting people with nature, working with natural materials to ground us and make us feel part of the natural world.

3pm- 4.30pm
Song workshop
This is your chance to sing your heart out! Join singer-songwriter Helena Day in a session creating your own (communal) river song. Using improvisation, harmonies and whatever you can do – maybe clap or hum if singing isn’t your thing – we will come together to think of fun lyrics, rhythms and melodies inspired by river life. Helena is a keen wildlife conservationist and uses her music to platform important ecological issues. To find out more check out her social media platforms @helena_day_

3pm- 4.30pm
A constellation with the River Darent
(for adults – please register for a place as a participant for this workshop. There are max 16 participants)
Constellations is a form of listening to multiple voices in a family, organisational or ecological system. Often we don’t know or can’t see the full story of a situation because we can only see from our own point of view. Constellations allows us to see many perspectives and aspects of a whole, including nonhuman voices, concepts or collectives.

For this constellation facilitated by Laura Burns, we will ask what the River Darent needs from us – its human community – and look at the ecosystem and wider field of interest, investment, concern and organic life itself.This is a closed group activity, and will work best with the focus and attention of the participants; for this reason we ask that you sign up if you’d like to join the session, and commit to being with the constellation from start to finish. No experience necessary, just curiosity and an open mind.