Putney Town Regatta has closed permanently. The organising committee made the announcement on Sunday, on the weekend the event would have been held, 115 years after it was founded on the same stretch of river.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce our closure, ending an event that was established in 1911,” a message read on the organisation’s social media account Sunday afternoon.
The regatta ran each May over a 1,200m course on the Thames near Putney Embankment, with races for juniors through to masters. It last took place in May 2019. The pandemic halted the 2020 event; it never returned.
A year ago, the committee was still trying. Chair Tony Reynolds posted a public appeal in May 2025 asking clubs to supply volunteers who would help revive the regatta for 2026. By August, the committee had entered negotiations with another organisation over a possible revival deal. By September, we reported that the latest scheme had fallen through. The rowing calendar had already quietly noted “no longer to be held” by April this year.
Sunday’s announcement thanked the volunteers who had served on the organising committee and supported the event over the years. It did not explain why revival proved impossible.
The regatta was a different kind of event to the club programmes that line Putney’s boathouses. Thames RC, Vesta RC and London RC run competitive and elite programmes on the same water. Putney Town Regatta was the grassroots layer (accessible, local, held right in front of the boathouses). The 1929 programme included a Watermen’s Apprentices’ Race, a Ladies’ Four Oared Race, two bands and a fireworks display on the Fulham Embankment. Thames RC described it, nearly a century later, as “always a fun event for Thames with races right in front of the boathouse.”
The committee’s final words, addressed to anyone still watching: “We hope your memories of the regatta are as fond as ours.”
Finally, we are proud of our history of being a traditional river regatta that offered the opportunity to race for juniors through to masters and most of all for the enjoyment of the sport.
— Putney Town Regatta (@PutneyTownReg) May 17, 2026
We hope your memories of the regatta are as fond as ours.
Thanks for your support.
