Celebrating community spirit as Whaley Wharf Weekend returns

Whaley Wharf Weekend will return on Saturday and Sunday with two days of entertainment for all the family to enjoy.

Organiser Nev Clarke, from the Whaley Bridge Canal Group, said: “We will keep as close as we can to that weekend every year as it’s a way of honouring our community spirit and of bringing people together.”

The event, which has been a resounding success for the last two years, attracting over 2,000 visitors each time, will be based round the Transhipment Warehouse and canal basin.

The monthly FAB market will be at its heart with stalls offering food and gifts as well as local beer producers Big Stone and High Peak Cider. There will also be various craft activities, including stained glass and a chance to try your hand at clay throwing.

Storytelling returns for the third year running and will be enthralling people from 4 to 94 alike. Music lovers will be able to enjoy entertainment provided by the Powderkegs Morris Troop, dancing and then playing folk on the stage; local bands, including Fuzzy Felt World and the 10k until 7pm on Saturday while Sunday will see the Disappearing, Blues band Dead Shrimp and of course the brass band.

Nev said: “The Whaley Wharf Weekend will hopefully be a regular in the calendar for years to come, just as Whaley Winter Tales has done. The Transhipment Warehouse is at the heart of the community and it has the community at its heart. The original concept for how we thought the building would operate has changed so much, it’s beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve had visitors in from all over after neighbours from Cornwall, Dundee and even Auckland have recommended us. We’ve even had celebrities but I’m sworn to secrecy.”

The Transhipment Warehouse is rapidly becoming the community hub that Nev and other members of Whaley Bridge Canal Group dreamt of when they first established it. It was a popular retreat during Covid with the general public feeling a safe and socially distanced space to meet with friends and many local groups, such as Whaley Band also met there.