Head for Bishop's Park in Fulham or Furnivall Gardens in Hammersmith on Sunday May 27 to enjoy all the excitement of the annual Boat Races - and a great family day out.

The parks offer some of the best vantage points in the borough - Bishop's Park for the start of the races and Furnivall for the middle.

You can also watch the rest of the races on big screens and enjoy bars, food and funfair attractions.

The Cancer Research UK Boat Races pull in around 250,000 spectators along the riverside watching from riverside pubs and other buildings with Thames views, while millions more will be following on BBC One.

There are four separate races being run: The Cancer Research UK Women’s Race, The Osiris Blondie Race (women’s reserves), The Isis Goldie Race (men’s reserves) and the women’s reserve race, the men’s reserve race, the women’s boat race and – as a grand finale – the annual Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race.

The action starts at 3.10pm with the Newton Women’s Boat Race, followed by the women’s reserve race (the Osiris Blondie Race) at 3.25pm.

The men’s reserves from Oxford and Cambridge race against each other at 3.40pm, (the Isis Goldie Race), with the main event, The Cancer Research UKBNY Mellon Boat Race, starting at 4.10pm.

The Boat Races course from start at Putney Bridge to finish at Chiswick Bridge

Having signed a six-year partnership with The Boat Races, the Southwold brewery Adnams will create their own Fan Park in Furnivall Gardens, complete with beach huts and food stalls.

Meanwhile there will also be a big screen, refreshments, a food village and family fun at Bishop’s Park.

Both events are completely free.

With 81 Boat Race victories to 79, a 2016 Oxford win would reduce Cambridge’s winning margin to just one. There was an official dead heat in 1877.

In the women’s event, Cambridge has a more secure lead (41 wins to 29). 

The men’s race began in 1829, when it was actually staged in Henley. But every race after that has used the Thames in London; a course now so familiar to worldwide television audiences. The first women’s race was held in 1927.

This will be the 162nd Boat Race from Putney to Mortlake. Those hardy souls who took part in the first event in June 1829, when George IV was on the throne and George Stephenson’s Rocket steam locomotive was beating all rivals in speed trials, would be bewildered by the modern spectacle.

March 22, 2016