The Chester Raft Race is an annual charity event taking place every July in the Groves on the River Dee. The rafts race against the clock over an approximate 400 metre course starting just upriver of the Royal Chester Rowing Club, passing under the pedestrian Suspension Bridge to a finish on the north bank of the river by Recorder’s Steps to the Walls and just above the weir. Although the race is over at this point, the rafts then have to retrace their route back to the launch area on the Meadows. 

 From the early 1970s until 2019 the Raft Race was organised by the Rotary Club of Chester.  No races were held in 2020 and 2021, and from 2022 organisation passed to Chester Grosvenor Round Table. We are delighted to bring this event back from a Covid enforced hiatus.