THE MONMOUTHSHIRE & Brecon Canal Trust is playing host to the National Trailboat Festival over this coming bank holiday weekend.

Based at Malpas, Newport, the event will feature a jamboree of 37 boats, stalls and entertainments such as fire-eaters, stilt walkers and Punch and Judy shows.

The event was last held on the canal in 2000 and proved a bit hit.

Around 10,000 visitors are expected over the course of the weekend and two boats will be available for public trips through newly restored locks. The rendezvous for the event, Kimberly Park, Malpas, can be reached off the M4 Junction 26.

Organised by the Mon & Brec Canal Trust, the event has been backed by British Waterways, Newport council, the Welsh Development Agency and the National Lottery.

The trust has plenty to celebrate at the moment as its ambitious plan to create a marina at Newport's Crindau district has been adopted into Newport Unlimited's regeneration plans for the city.

The marina - via lockgates - will connect the river with the canal system and would function as the canal's southern terminus.

It will also offer commercial and retail opportunities for shops, restaurants and a hotel, like a mini-version of St Katharine's Dock in London.

Trust chairman Chris Morgan said: "It will be all the stimulus required to have the canal fully restored and navigable and will give Newport a fantastic attraction for city residents and visitors."