Chancellor to start raft race as canal festival is launched

A FLOTILLA of homemade rafts will race along the city's Union Canal this weekend as part of the first-ever festival dedicated to the waterway.

Chancellor Alistair Darling will mark the official opening of the inaugural Edinburgh Canal Festival, which sets sail in Fountainbridge tomorrow morning with the city's third annual Raft Race.

Supported by British Waterways Scotland and the city council, the festival has been organised by Re-Union Canal Boats, a social enterprise based at Edinburgh Quay, Fountainbridge.

The raft race, which first ran in 2007, features 32 teams racing in homemade rafts with prizes for the most attractive raft, fastest paddler and the raft demonstrating the most recycled parts.