RESIDENTS from across the county came together to celebrate and share stories as part of the Christchurch Dragon Festival.

From quests to find dragons in shops, exhibitions and puppet shows, to talks, lessons on how to deal with a fire in the home, and drumming, there have been masses of events organised to mark the special occasion.

It was all to celebrate the 900th anniversary of a story favoured by residents, which dates back to 1113, where allegedly nine Canons saw a five-headed dragon burn the town.

Caz Hand from the Christchurch Dragon Festival, said: “Phil Tate, a local amateur historian, heard about the story behind it and decided to tell other people who live in the town, to see if he could find out more.

She added: “We held the drumming event at Druitt Hall on Saturday, May 26, and the idea was to drum up the heartbeat of the dragon, which was great fun and very noisy so the children enjoyed it.

“We also held a lot of other dragon-related events in celebration of the anniversary of the dragon, such as crafts and workshops, including Christchurch Library, who made junk dragons. The event was joined by hundreds of adults and children, including involvement from the Chamber of Trade in Christchurch to Christchurch Junior School to the Tourist Information Centre.

“The idea behind it all was for more people to get to know the dragon and its story, and lots of people and organisations have taken it to heart.