The first festival was held in 1950, inspired by car rallies which Tom Rolt, one of the founders of the Inland Waterways Association, had attended prior to the Second World War.
However, the festival was a success, and one of Rolt's innovations was the awarding of trophies for impressive service or performance, a practice that continued.
The A. P. Herbert Trophy was awarded to the person who had traveled the furthest to get to the rally, and was won by Stan Offley, who had covered 220 miles (350 km) and had passed through 156 locks.
The decision to hold it at Stourbridge Basin was taken in late 1961, and David Hutchings, by then chairman of the rally committee, approached British Transport Waterways, the operating arm of the British Transport Commission (BTC) to ensure that the Stourbridge Branch would be dredged, to allow the boats to reach the festival site.
The British Transport Commission threatened legal action against Hutchings, the Inland Waterways Association and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society if he proceeded, but that did not stop him.
The BTC was abolished later that year, and the rally went ahead,[2] with British Waterways staff assisting boats through the decrepit locks.
The Festival takes places usually over the August bank holiday weekend and is held at a new location each year.