A fire and flame spectacular around a ceremonial Giant Samovar heralded the start of the Wye Valley River Festival in Hereford on Friday April 29, setting off a programme of riverside events which comes to Monmouth this weekend (May 6 and 7) and culminates in a fabulous finale in Chepstow on May 15.

Crowds joined an intriguing cast of river characters, known as The Water Ones, for the opening ceremony when the banks of the Wye came alive with fire, flame and fountains of light. Mysterious water rites, circus, aerial dance, comic performance and music from the Wye Valley Festival Choir preceded a procession of illuminated water creatures and lanterns which accompanied the arrival of the Giant Samovar. This is a great tea-making sculpture that’s been specially made in the USA. It’s a focal point of celebrations as this year’s fabulous, free, family festival wends its way down the valley between now and May 15.

Festival events continued over the Bank Holiday weekend with the Wye Valley River Festival taking place in Hereford on Bishops Meadow on Saturday, April 30 alongside the Hereford River Carnival. Festivities then carried on down the river to Ross-on-Wye on Sunday, May 1 and on Bank Holiday Monday the fun started at Bishopswood. Festival flags made by local schoolchildren were launched on a flotilla of canoes to travel down to Lydbrook Tump, where this year’s annual riverside Tump Fair included the added excitement of a visit by the River Festival.

An amazing sound installation created with help from the local community also opened over the Bank Holiday. Musician, composer and audio-visual artist Dan Fox has been out collecting the voices of local children and adults, stories, animal noises, birdsong and sounds of the river to bring the “voices of the Valley” to his audio visual installation, Cymbals of Redbrook, on the Gloucestershire village’s disused railway bridge that spans the River Wye between England and Wales. The installation can be experienced until May 8 (12noon to 10pm) and includes an avenue of cymbals suspended from tall poles across the bridge. At night the installation comes alive with LED lighting synchronised with the audio.

On Thursday, May 5, Redbrook also hosts a visit from the River Festival. The Water Ones will bring a host of festival antics to the car park at Redbrook from 11am until 7pm and later in the evening there’s live music at The Boat Inn. Next weekend the torrent of entertainment reaches Monmouth. On Friday May 6 river characters are in the town centre to perform from 12noon to 4pm, whilst there are also activities outside Shire Hall. Saturday May 7 brings the chance to see three outdoor arts commissions by Articulture on the streets of the town, plus buskers and river characters.

The festival will be encamped on Vauxhall Fields from 12noon to 10.15pm, where there will be plenty of river antics, song, dance and foolishness. The Giant Samovar will be stoked up and serving tea. There will be performances from Monmouth Band, Forest of Dean Male Voice Choir and a shoal of floating musicians, plus plenty of marvellous food and drink vendors. . The day culminates with a spectacular show from 7.30 pm.

On Friday May 6, at Old Station, Tintern join The Water Ones and the George Choir for the ceremonial launch of an astounding avian art installation. Luminous Birds, by internationally renowned artist Kathy Hinde, is open from 10am until 11pm until Friday May 15. It is best seen at dusk and after dark, when hundreds of origami-style birds come alive with synchronised lighting sequences creating the effect of birds in flight. Alongside this, in the Signal Box at Old Station another installation, One Thousand Birds, will take flight from Friday May 6 to Friday May 13. Members of riverside communities made hundreds of Origami birds for the installation which is accompanied by immersive sound composed by Matthew Fairclough. It’s open from 10am - 5pm daily.

The torrent of free, family entertainment provided by the Wye Valley River Festival reaches Llandogo on May 14, where there’s lots going on and the fun all starts on the banks of the river at 12.30pm. There will be theatre, games, music, food and a festival bar. Towards evening, torch bearers and musicians will converge at the river’s edge and fantastic illuminations will light the riverside as choirs join with The Water Ones to bless the waters of the Wye. Make an evening of it – the fun lasts til 10.30pm.

The Wye Valley River Festival reaches a crescendo on May 15 at the grand finale at Chepstow Racecourse. It all gets underway at 2pm. There will be games; a Beast Feast; stalls and activities. A spectacular evening performance will include the lighting of a fire sculpture, lanterns in the woods; water stories and more. For more information visit www.wyevalleyaonb.org.uk; Twitter: @wyebeauty #wyevalleyriverfestival; Facebook: www.facebook.com/ wyevalleyriverfestival