Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's Festivals and Events Programme launch
Weymouth and Portland are in for a fun-packed year with more than 250 major events and festivals planned. It in anticipated that more than 1 million people will visit the borough for all the events that are going on throughout the year.
New and exciting events are added to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's Festivals and Events Programme each year and 2019 is no exception.
New events include the 100th anniversary of Weymouth Lifeboat with a planned parade of sail, a Pride rally in the summer, Open for Art 19, Bright for Sight Night Run in aid of Dorset Blind, Egdon Pyjamas Run and a 2.4 mile swim across Weymouth Bay.
The events programme will be bursting with an abundance of colourful community fetes and fairs, prestigious world and national sailing championships, live music, art, sports championships and many seasonal favourites.
Many of the borough’s iconic events are back in 2019 including the Wessex Folk Festival, Armed Forces Celebrations in June, Chickerell Steam and Vintage Show, Dorset Seafood Festival in July, International Fireworks in August, Nothe Fort Military Weekend and European Boat Angling Championships in September, Lions Beach Motocross in October and Seafront Guy Fawkes Celebrations in November, Christmas Pantomime, Chase the Pudding and the Lions Christmas Day Harbour Swim in December.
Big sporting events will once again feature strongly throughout the year, including one of the world’s biggest Ironman 70.3 triathlons. This prestigious multi discipline event attracts more than 2,500 entries from Britain and overseas.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy has another busy year ahead with a number of high-profile sailing championships including the Kite Boarding Championships, Barts Bash, RYA Sailability Multi Class Championships and Weymouth Speed Week.
Event partners this year include Weymouth BID, Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth Swimming Pool (SLM), and Real World Services.
Cllr Richard Kosior, the council's Tourism and Culture Briefholder, said: “This year’s programme is once again packed full of great events and activities offering something for everyone. Many of our seasonal favourites are joined by some fantastic new events, making the programme bigger and better than ever.
“I'd like to encourage residents to spread the word and come and take advantage of this wonderful community-driven festival and events programme which continues to entertain and inspire as well as raise money for a range of charitable causes.”
Claudia Moore, Weymouth BID Manager, said: “The bustling 2019 events programme for Weymouth & Portland really emphasises the rich variety of what is on offer throughout the year. Events and festivals are internationally recognised as a major driver to bring additional visitors to an area, promote the destination and add valuable extra visitor spend right across the local economy. One of the Bid’s primary aims is to support event promotion and maximise the many opportunities”
Phil Say, Director at Weymouth Pavilion, said: “Weymouth Pavilion is proud to support the town’s vibrant events programme and be acknowledged as the hub for entertainment and culture in Weymouth, Portland and West Dorset. The Pavilion team work hard to deliver a high quality programme of shows and community functions. Throughout the year we are proud to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors and provide a great venue for many high profile west end shows and abundant local theatrical talent.” We start the year with the completion of a significant refurbishment to the exterior of the building and a spectacular new lighting system, enhancing the visitor experience and future proofing the building”
Source: Dorset Echo