Nithraid River Race 2024

Nithraid River Festival recognises and explores Dumfries’ long relationship with the River Nith and its importance to the people and communities it connects both past, present, and future.

Join us for the annual Nithraid River Race from Glencaple to Dumfries. Nithraid is a regular racing fixture on the national calendar. Sailors, kayakers and coastal rowers battle it out for the best time as they complete the 5.25 mile course.

The Nith is a tidal river that runs through the historic market town of Dumfries, connecting the town to the sea. In the 18th century, this connection saw the town and its neighbouring villages of Glencaple and Kingholm Quay become Scotland’s largest and busiest trading ports.

The river’s importance to Dumfries as the region’s largest market town is immortalised in the Nithraid logo. Our festival mascot, ‘Salty Coo’, symbolises the historic journey made by herds of cattle, led by their farmers, across the river at low tide from Maxwelltown on the west bank to the cattle market at Whitesands on the east side of the river. This historic crossing site now marks the halfway point of the Nithraid River Race.

Nithraid has been going for over 10 years and has seen many changes over that time. It is now in the process of another major transition. Over the next two years, Nithraid will become an independent organisation. Building on the success of this distinctive and unique celebration of the beautiful River Nith, and keeping the river race as its central element, the event will develop the Mill Green gathering into a creative festival of the natural environment