Get ready for the Boat Race

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Big screens, food villages and beer tents for Hammersmith on Boat Race day

Hammersmith residents will be able to enjoy beer tents and food while watching the 155th annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in Furnivall Gardens.

The special ‘Boat Race in the Park’ events will also be staged in Bishop’s Park, Fulham on Boat Race day (Sunday March 29).

The race itself starts at 3.40pm with the best views from the Thames Path.

Events will run from midday until 6pm and will include full ITV coverage of the race on the large screens from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

Music from Heart 106.2 will also be played before and after the television coverage in an attempt to further enhance the festival atmosphere.

Bishop’s Park, where the start of the race can be seen from the Thames Path, will also feature family fun and sports activities, including children’s rides and inflatables, face painting and interactive rowing taster sessions.

Spectators at Furnivall Gardens and Bishop’s Park will have a good view of the Race’s Tideway course. This year, Boat Race fans will have the chance to see the first ever victory parade in which the winning crew members will return along the course on a launch at around 4.45pm.

The first Boat Race took place in 1829 after Cambridge challenged Oxford to a race on the Thames. The modern race still runs along the same lines and on race day up to 250,000 spectators crowd the riverbanks to witness the action.

Following Oxford’s victory last year, Cambridge now lead the overall series by 79 wins to 74, with the sides having drawn in a dead heat once in the 1800s.

18 March 2009