Hundreds of families rocked to live music, fireworks and watersports during Saturday’s Waterfront Festival at the Royal Docks.

Hundreds of families rocked to live music, fireworks and watersports during Saturday’s Newham London Waterfront Festival at the Royal Docks.

The free festival also gave visitors the chance to explore the recently opened Siemens Crystal building.

The Crystal is home to the world’s largest exhibition focusing on urban sustainability. Many took the opportunity to explore its various zones, split into areas focusing on water, transport, city design and healthcare, to name just a few.

Run by Newham Council the Waterfront Festival event was hosted by James Anthony and Ash Selector.

Young and old took up the opportunity to try out a host of water based activities. Aquaballs proved to be particularly popular with children and young people while grown-ups tried their hand at wake boarding and paddle boarding. There were free boat rides throughout the afternoon as well as tours of the historic Royal Victoria Dock.

A steel band, face painting and workshops all combined to create a fun, festival atmosphere to the area.

For those who like their fun to be land-based and dry there was a Fun Bus full of activities to keep children occupied as well as a giant inflatable whale and a lantern procession. Organisers also ran tours around the dock.

Musical entertainment was kicked off by exuberant Cuban Big Band, Orquesta Estelar, who got everyone in the party mood with their hip-swaying Cuban classics.

The London School of Samba continued the exotic theme while Candy Apple Blue brought R&B, soul classics and motown to the mix.

The London School of Samba has a history that goes back to 1984 and regularly attend the Notting Hill Carnival and the Thames Festival.

The fantastic Bootleg Beatles dominated the live music stage but only after the Juggling Inferno Experience held everyone spellbound with its multi-layered fire and pyrotechnic show which included juggling, hula hoop and fire eating.

The Bootlegs, formed from the cast of the 1979 West End musical Beatlemania, were the first to launch the tribute genre and have already played arenas to 70,000 fans and toured the world. To celebrate it’s realease by the Fab Four, the Bootlegs will include ‘Love Me Do’ in their shows.

The day’s activities were brought to a colourful close with a spectacular fireworks display that

sent visitors home with a smile on their faces.