Free performances by giant puppets and interactive dance theatre groups will be on offer when transformative arts event the Wye Valley River Festival makes Monmouth “merry” on Saturday May 2.

Art installations and craft workshops will also be among the entertainment in the Monmouth Mischief programme finalised by festival organisers to delight people from the town as they continue to recover from the severe flooding which struck last autumn.

Held every two years, the May Bank Holiday weekend festival will take place at Drybridge Park following the Merry Monmouth community procession which will head down Monmouth High Street from the Shire Hall area at 11.30am.

And the community can play their part in the build-up by joining free creative sessions at the Old Market Hall in Monmouth on Saturday April 25 and Thursday April 30.

The Wye Valley River Festival is created by local communities, environmentalists and artists in the Wye Valley’s internationally important landscape.

Organisers want to encourage families to visit Monmouth, which was devastated in November when Storm Claudia brought flooding to 200 homes and about 120 businesses, to thank the local community which has supported the festival since 2014.

The Drybridge Park programme will include appearances by eight-foot puppet Daniel, an ancient man of the earth who carries a large dandelion conducted by Luke Brown Company, along with Cornish artist Seamas Carey, who will be in character as a people-hating man sent on community service to organise an instant community.

Interactive comedy performers Kitsch & Sync Collective will be helping festival goers find love with their Dating Agency show, the Ragged Storytelling Collective will perform Cân y Dŵr or Song of Water while an art installation and performance by artist and storyteller Holly Foskett-Barnes promises to revive the ancient Celtic tradition of “telling the bees” key life events.

Energetic street band the Wodwose, led by Tim Hill, will return to the festival and Her Story Theatre Company will perform Doreen’s Big Catch, a play using puppetry telling the story of Doreen Davey and her record breaking salmon catch on the River Wye near Hereford.

Wolves Always Howl More Than Once is a new installation by artist Jenny Cashmore, the Soapbox Sessions will see compere Annabelle Holland marshal 10 minute speeches and there will be a choice of seven arts workshops on the day, including The Imagination Station, a play space for all ages to make, create and build the spaces they want, and Forest Community Shed.

Artistic director Phillippa Haynes, of Wye Valley River Festival CIC, said: "Monmouth has shown such resilience after the devastating floods and we wanted to bring something truly joyful back to the town this May Bank Holiday weekend.

In preparation for the 2026 event, organisers are working with schools and offering a series of free workshops for local people to create artwork to feature in the Festival.

The public are invited to help create two large puppets to feature in the #procession by joining free creative sessions at the Old Market Hall in Monmouth on Saturday April 25 and Thursday April 30.