Free Bradbourne Lakes summer festival returns to Sevenoaks on 11 July

A free summer festival is coming to Bradbourne Lakes Park in Sevenoaks on Saturday 11 July 2026, with a bouncy castle, inflatable bowling, a magician, river crafts and food vans across the afternoon. The event runs from 12.30pm to 4.30pm and entry is free, Sevenoaks District Council has announced. (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Free Summer Festival)

The festival is the public face of the biggest overhaul the lakes have had in nearly 300 years. It is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the “Bradbourne Re-bourne” restoration project, and the day includes information stalls on the works so residents can see what is planned for the park on their doorstep. (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Summer Festival)

What is on, and when

The festival is at Bradbourne Lakes Park, Betenson Avenue, Sevenoaks TN13 3ER, from 12.30pm to 4.30pm. Most activities run all afternoon and need no booking: a bouncy castle, inflatable bowling, a magician, and river-themed crafts run by the South East Rivers Trust. West Kent Mind and the Crowborough Model Boat Club will have stalls, and there is a display on the restoration project. Picnics are welcome, and an ice cream van and a pizza van will be on site, where the usual charges apply. (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Free Summer Festival)

Two activities need to be booked in advance because places are limited. A “build your own raft” model-making workshop for children aged 8 to 12 is bookable through Eventbrite, and there are two guided history walks with local historian Jonathan Fenner, one from 1pm to 2.15pm and one from 3pm to 4.15pm, also booked through Eventbrite. The council lists both booking links and an enquiries address, bradbournelakes@sevenoaks.gov.uk, on its festival page. (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Summer Festival)

Cllr Irene Roy, the council’s Cabinet Member for Cleaner and Greener, said: “It’s the perfect family day out, and best of all, it’s completely free!” (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Free Summer Festival)

The restoration behind the festival

Bradbourne Lakes are five interconnected ornamental lakes laid out around 1740, on land the council has owned since 1935. They feed the River Darent, and years of silt, leaking sluices and worn banks had left them in poor condition. The “Bradbourne Re-bourne” project is the biggest restoration since the lakes were built. (Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Summer Festival)

The council secured a £1,633,549 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which with more than £500,000 of developer contributions takes the total to roughly £2.13 million. The work will drain and restore all five lakes, repair sluices, bridges, leaks and banks, remove silt to create reedbeds, plant wildflowers, and add a natural play area, an accessible toilet and habitats for bats and birds, alongside improvements to the flow and quality of the River Darent. Preparation is already under way, with the main works due to begin in autumn 2026. (Sevenoaks District Council, Council awarded £1.6m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore historic lakes)

The project partners include Kent Wildlife Trust, West Kent Mind, the South East Rivers Trust and Historic England’s Rejuvenate programme, which is why several of them are running the festival’s activity stalls. Cllr Roy has described the lakes as “a jewel in the heart of the community”. (The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Restoring Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks)

What it means for you

If you want to see the park before it closes for the main restoration works this autumn, the festival is a good chance to do it, and to ask the council directly what the site will look like when it reopens. Entry and all the main attractions are free, so the only spend is on food if you would rather not bring a picnic. Families wanting the raft-building or a history walk should book those on Eventbrite early, because places are capped.

Bradbourne Lakes Park sits off Betenson Avenue, north of the town centre near Bradbourne Vale Road. For other events across the district this summer, see our guide to things to do in Sevenoaks and what’s on in Sevenoaks this month. Council-run parks and green spaces are funded partly through local taxation; our guide to Sevenoaks council tax bands explains how that works.

Sources

• Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Free Summer Festival (1 July 2026; Saturday 11 July 2026, 12.30pm to 4.30pm, free entry, bouncy castle, inflatable bowling, magician, South East Rivers Trust crafts, West Kent Mind and Crowborough Model Boat Club stalls, ice cream and pizza vans, picnics welcome, Cllr Irene Roy quote)
• Sevenoaks District Council, Bradbourne Lakes Summer Festival (venue Bradbourne Lakes Park, Betenson Avenue, Sevenoaks TN13 3ER; raft-building for ages 8 to 12 and Jonathan Fenner history walks at 1pm and 3pm bookable via Eventbrite; enquiries bradbournelakes@sevenoaks.gov.uk; funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of “Bradbourne Re-bourne”)
• Sevenoaks District Council, Council awarded £1.6m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore historic lakes (£1,633,549 grant, over £500,000 developer funding, roughly £2.13m total, five interconnected lakes from 1740 feeding the River Darent, drain and restore, sluices and banks, reedbeds, wildflowers, natural play area, accessible toilet, main works autumn 2026, Cllr Irene Roy “jewel in the heart of the community”)
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Restoring Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks (project partners Kent Wildlife Trust, West Kent Mind, South East Rivers Trust and Historic England)

Image: One of the five ornamental lakes at Bradbourne Lakes Park, Sevenoaks. Photo by Nigel Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.