The Annual Black Country Boat Festival is a gathering of boat owners and an important local community event. This event is held each year in the Bumbole Hole Nature Reserve in Neterton during the month of September. This years event which marks also marks the 23rd anniversary of the Boat Festival will be held from the 12th to the 14th of September and hopes to raise over 100,000 pounds for local and national charities.

The location of the event the Bumbole Hole apart from its humorous name is a local nature reserve that provides the necessary ambience for such an event. Though it is hard to believe this nature reserve was once at the heart of the region’s commerce as its link with canals and waterways made it an ideal location for boat yards, iron smelters, furnaces and other industrial factories. Though the area is now covered by greenery a lasting reminder to its industrial days is the 95 foot high Cobbs Engine House.

The Black Country Boat Festival is an event that is organized completely with the help of volunteers, over 200 such people gather for this event and the crowds can go up to about 12,000. The festival is ideal for family entertainment, the combination of the relaxing British outdoors during the end of the summer, the areas historic waterways and the quaint colorful boats make it an engaging yet fun filled outing.

Sometimes referred to as a local social event where the whole community participates, Dudley’s sizeable boat owning population turns out in full force to present an event where a number of entertainment options are available for visitors. Apart from the 300 plus boats, trade stalls, charity stalls, boater competitions, a Victorian fun fair, specialty food stalls, an arts and crafts corner and a real ale bar will be on offer to keep visitors occupied.

A number of boats and barges with historical value are also expected to be seen in this year’s festival. Among them will be working narrowboats, horse drawn boats and steam narrowboats. Being a festival that draws in large crowds from neighboring areas, many a Dudley hotel also hosts special promotions and events concurrent to the Black Country Boat Festival.