Alice Dearing set for appearance at first-ever Lidofest

Olympian Alice Dearing will be making a special guest appearance at the UK’s first-ever Lidofest which will take place at Charlton’s Lido.

Dearing recently made her Olympic debut in Tokyo after qualifying for the women’s 10km marathon swimming event.

In doing so, Dearing became the first black woman to represent Great Britain in an Olympic swimming event.

The jam-packed festival has been designed to celebrate the fun side of swimming and the importance of lidos and will take place on 21 August.

A host of activities have been planned for the day including mermaid displays, synchronised swimming demonstrations, fancy dress competitions and swim races, author talks, and water-themed DJ sets.

Founders of the festival are Clare Ruby and Sophie Morgan who spoke of the motivation behind founding Lidofest.

“The lido is such a great space,” said Ruby. “But a lot of swimming events are about doing competitive challenges and I felt a need for something that celebrates all the fun stuff you can do in the water as well as those events.”

“We believe swimming is for everyone regardless of your age, ability, race, gender or body shape” added Ruby.

“There’s something for everyone, from fancy dress competitions, festival glitter face painting, book readings, inflatable races, masters swim coaching, mermaid swimming lessons, synchro displays, swimming with professional mermaids.”

‘Swim safe, swim confident’

In addition to the various events and activities planned for the festival, accesibility to swimming is high on the agenda.

As a result, a series of free ‘swim safe, swim confident’ sessions will take place throughout the day which will be run by professional swim teacher from different communities across the country.

Charlton Lido is fully accesible for wheelchair users. Additionally, Lidofest has a pay-it-forward option to gift tickets to those who otherwise could not afford to attend.

Tickets cost £30 for adults and £5 for children and can be purchased here. 10% of profits from the event will go to the Black Swimming
Association, which aims to improve diversity in aquatics, and Level Water, which provides one-to-one swimming lessons for children with disabilities.

You can find out more information about the festival by clicking here.