River festival 'will be biggest yet and truly spectacular'

Organisers of the Mayor's Thames Festival today promised this year's event will be "bigger than ever".

The two-day spectacular - one of Europe's most popular free festivals, attracting 800,000 each year - starts tomorrow.

Artists, performers, musicians and installations will transform the South Bank, along with a giant shipwreck outside City Hall.

There will be live performances from singers Dionne Bromfield - Amy Winehouse's goddaughter - and Mercury Music Prize nominee Ghostpoet, and a market featuring worldwide crafts, food and drink.

There will be barge-driving races and a flotilla of more than 100 working, recreational and historic boats.

One of the highlights of the festival will be taking place beneath Hungerford Bridge where the space will be transformed with a pedal-powered punch machine, providing a mix of vintage music, classic Courvoisier punch and 1920s flapping.

1920s flappers will be offering complimentary samples of punch each day between 3pm and 8pm, and passers-by can also be in with the chance to win enough Courvoisier to host their own punch party if they can guess how far the machine has been pedalled to date.

Historian David Starkey and the creators of children's TV character Rastamouse will give talks aboard a paddle steamer, and a Night Carnival on Sunday will bring together more than 2,000 dancers and drummers, before a huge fireworks display.

Festival director Adrian Evans said: "It's going to be a true spectacular. The festival brings Londoners together to celebrate the things that make the city great and this year we'll be bigger than ever."

Mayor Boris Johnson heralded a "wonderful opportunity for London to show its true spirit to the world", describing the festival as "a magnificent celebration of the important role of the river in London's life and history".

For more information on the festival visit www.thamesfestival.org