This August, Nottingham’s biggest and best free family festival returns for another year, with a very special fireworks display planned for 2015’s festivities!

Every year, the Nottingham Riverside Festival offers locals and visitors three whole days of completely free entertainment, all taking place along the banks of the River Trent.

The event, sponsored by BMI The Park Hospital Nottingham, includes an absolutely huge range of attractions and activities for all ages. Children can enjoy their very own Children’s Zone, where they can learn circus skills and learn how to make dream catchers and bird puppets, as well as enjoying play areas and paddling pools.

There is a large street fun fair to lose yourself in, a craft fair in which you can learn some new skills and pick up some beautiful handmade items and a series of thrilling dragon boat races on the River Trent, plus a variety of street theatre artists and performances to entertain you on the go.

If you get peckish, there are a wide range of tempting food and drink stalls to choose from. Brand new for 2015, the BBC’s Make It Digital Tour will be making an appearance at this year’s Riverside Festival, putting on lots of fun activities and injecting a little innovation and digital creativity into proceedings.

As if all this wasn’t enough to entertain the family for the weekend, visitors can also enjoy live music from no less than four music stages, with artists on the line-up from all genres and styles from world music to folk, plus performances from talented local musicians. To find out who’s on, check the festival website or receive a free programme on the day.

Everybody ready for the fireworks?

No festival worth its salt would be complete without a spectacular fireworks display, and 1^st Galaxy Fireworks have risen to the challenge of providing this year’s Riverside Festival with a performance that no one will forget in a hurry! It’s all set for Saturday night, right in the middle of the celebrations, so look to the skies when all of the day’s fun and games has finished.

All the details are under wraps, to keep it a surprise for the thousands gathered by the Trent’s riverbanks when darkness falls, but let’s just say that August 1^st is definitely a date to put in your diary if you live in the Nottingham area! With the reflective river surface to play off and a huge crowd adding to the excitement and atmosphere, the display is set to be one of the highlights of the festival, the pinnacle of what will no doubt be a fantastic weekend for everyone involved. Not long to go now, so start practising your ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ all ready for the display – the team at 1^st Galaxy will see you there!