Hythe Venetian Fete 2026

Held every second year on the third Wednesday in August, the Hythe Venetian Fete turns a stretch of the Royal Military Canal into an open-air theatre. Up to 30 decorated floats process along the water twice, once in daylight and again after dark when illuminated, with a fireworks display at dusk between the two parades. The event routinely draws crowds of thousands from across Kent and beyond.

Hythe is a short drive or coastal walk from Folkestone, and a fete this size fills the town's own guest houses and holiday lets well before the date, with overflow demand reaching Folkestone, Sandgate and Cheriton. Anyone with a property nearby is worth pricing this week ahead of the general summer season, not as an afterthought.

Tickets for 2026 go on sale from 1 May 2026. If you're weighing up availability and pricing for a Folkestone-area let across mid-to-late August, this is one of the two biggest single dates in the calendar, alongside the Sandgate Sea & Food Festival the following week.