Nicole Scherzinger kicked off Henley Festival in style with crowd pleasing covers and Pussycat Dolls numbers including Sway, Buttons and Don’t Cha. A night full of quirky, shiny, sparkly, arty, party fun. Music, comedy, food, art and dancing done the Henley way.

The clouds parted and the sun came out for the first night of Henley Festival 2024. The Lawrence Olivier Award winner kept the audience waiting arriving on stage 30 minutes late to tumultuous applause and belting out Diamonds Are Forever to open the set that included I Put A Spell On You, an aptly stadium rousing We Are The Champions and closing with Purple Rain.

One thing that couldn’t be avoided was the crammed Pure Heaven tent, packed to the rafters with festival goers watching the England Football team secure a place in the final of the Euros (Henley Festival will be showing the final on Sunday).

There were spangly dresses and sequins as far as you could see and the sun was shimmering on the river that was laden with gin palaces, boats, slipper launches and skiffs full of dickie bows, dresses and free flowing champagne moored alongside the towpath.

Good old Lily the Duck cruised past giving Elton John a run for his money this year. You won’t miss this festival favourite bobbing up and down the stretch entertaining everyone and raising money for Macmillan Cancer Care.

Big shiny balls! Yep big shiny iridescent balls shimmering in the sunlight and popping with colour once the sun had set was one of the many visual art installations. The artwork in the galleries was amazing, so make sure to take a trip around and chat to artists including I Spy Contemporary, founded by Henley Festival regular Tommy Gurr, an art gallery specializing in Urban and contemporary street art. Check out the incredible Cat in the Hat constructed with keyboard tiles which took four years to complete.

Amongst a packed evening of music, comedy, dining, dancing, stunning visual art and sculptures adorning the riverside setting and the England Euro semi-final playing in the Big Top, Mark Watson had festivalgoers in fits of laughter. Following the Festival’s trademark firework spectacular, Bootleg Beatles brought the night to an energetic end with their brilliant tribute to the sixties icons.

Tickets for tonight (Thursday), Friday and Sunday are still available.