THE inaugural Poole Seafood Festival has gone down a hit with residents and visitors as thousands packed out Poole Quay over the weekend.

Hordes of people flocked to Poole Quay over the two-day festival and enjoyed a vast array of culinary delights and music.

Dorset Food festivals, the company behind the organisation of the event, were pleased with the turnout and, despite it being a non-ticketed event, they estimated that between 10,000 and 12,000 people attended across the two days.

Director Ben Dyas said: “It has gone really well. Saturday was pretty good considering that the weather was cloudy and Saturday night was brilliant. The Queen tribute band put on a great show and the fireworks went down really well.

“But Sunday was the better day weather wise, and the Quay was heaving. I think it is as busy as it was yesterday

“People are having a great time; they have been loving the sea shanties and the live music and the many stall that were on offer.”

 

However, the festival didn’t go ahead without its difficulties. Some stalls were forced to pull off at the last minute due to staffing issues, meaning that there were fewer local businesses than originally hoped.

Visitors tucked into classic seafood dishes and other international foods from the dozens of stalls and listened to a variety of musical talent, with the sea shanties proving partially popular on Sunday.

Some of the county’s most renowned chefs graced the demonstration stage, including award-winning chef Ian Gibbs from the Smugglers Run in Christchurch, Pete Miles, owner of Dorset Oyster and Ian Salmon, head chef at Rick Stein Sandbanks.

Following a successful weekend, Ben and the rest of the team at Dorset Food festivals hope that the event has attracted enough attention to make the event one of the highlights in the calendar for the Poole area.

Ben added: “There are lot of things which we wish to add to the event but were unable to do because of the Covid restrictions.

“If we are able to do this again, we hope to have a bigger selection of local produce and even more music acts.

“We are grateful for Poole Harbour commissioners for helping us put on the event. I feel that, with only a few months to plan this, we can count it as a success, and we hope to come back bigger and better next year.”