Two Local Fan Parks Set Up for Those Watching Boat Race

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Furnivall Gardens and Bishops Park to offer great views, food, drink and big screens

University crews pass underneath Hammersmith Bridge. Picture: Tom Koch

March 24, 2023

The Historic Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race returns this Sunday, 26 March and there is a wide range of associated activities taking along the river in Hammersmith and Fulham.

The Riverside Studios will be serving take-away fish and chips, hotdogs and roast lunches as well as chilled wines, cocktails, spritz and an array of beers from its Bar & Kitchen.

Two fan parks are being set up in Hammersmith and Fulham where you can watch both the race live and the BBC’s coverage on a big screen after the boats pass by.

The Hammersmith Fan Park area in Furnivall Gardens (W6 9DGP) will open at noon and closes at 6.30pm. It is located at the two-mile mark, the midpoint of the 4.25-mile race. There will be a big screen by the river with live BBC coverage from 3.30pm.

Food will be on offer from Free Wheeling Pizza, La Cocinita, Poor Boys, Feed the Village, Chicken ‘n’ Sours and Duck Shed. Drinks will be on sale from the Shepherd Neame bar and Dead Good Coffee. Covered areas, seats and toilets will also be available.

It’s an apt place to watch the race... Dr Fred Furnivall, a Victorian academic with a passion for physical fitness and rowing, founded the Hammersmith Sculling Club in 1896 as a sporting facility for working-class girls.

He was a vegetarian, teetotal non-smoker who helped set up the Oxford English Dictionary, and after whom the cherished gardens with the fine river views are named.

The Fulham Fan Park is In Bishops Park, Fulham (SW6 6EA) from where you can watch the start of each race and then turn to the big screen. The area will open at noon and closes at 6.30pm. It is located at the very start of the race, next to Putney Bridge. There will be a big screen in the park with live BBC coverage from 3.30pm.

Food will be on offer from Free Wheeling Pizza, La Cocinita, Poor Boys, Feed the Village, Chicken ‘n’ Sours and Duck Shed.

Drinks will be on sale from the Shepherd Neame bar, the Chapel Down bar and other refreshment stations. It is not BYO. Covered areas, seats and toilets will also be available.

Riverside Studios will be serving take-away fish and chips, hotdogs and roast lunches as well as chilled wines, cocktails, spritz and an array of beers from its Bar & Kitchen.

There are also a huge number of other good vantage points – often near local riverside pubs – to watch the race.

View a high resolution image of the Boat Race 2023 route map shown above

Race times:

Women’s Boat Race - 4pm
Men’s Boat Race - 5pm
Race route map:

Following expert safety advice to avoid congestion, Hammersmith Bridge will be closed to pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters from 11am to 6pm.

The 135-year-old Hammersmith Bridge is a significant marker in the race. It is just before the halfway point, where coxes traditionally aim for the second lamppost from the left where the water is deepest and the river fastest, before beginning the long left-hand turn. And 80 per cent of crews ahead at Hammersmith Bridge go on to win.

If the event inspires you to take up rowing, there are a number of local clubs which welcome new members.

Fulham Reach Boat Club, set up in 2014, is based at Distillery Wharf, Fulham, and offers training courses just 200m from Hammersmith Bridge.

Dr Furnivall’s Furnivall Sculling Club is still going strong in Hammersmith, whether you’re interested in rowing competitively or just for fun.

Sons of the Thames is a club based on the Tideway, just upstream of Hammersmith Bridge, which combines social events and competition rowing.

And there’s also the Auriol Kensington Rowing Club at Lower Mall, Hammersmith, which bills itself as the friendliest rowing club on the river.

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