THE RETURN of Dorset’s only free seafood festival has been brought forward to coincide with Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Poole.
A three-day celebration of the town’s lengthy maritime and fishing heritage, Poole Seafood Festival will be held from Friday June 3 to Sunday 5 – marking Her Majesty’s reign with a haul of fresh fish and shellfish, as well as other local produce and live music.
Festival director Ben Dyas said: “The lives of Poole people are inextricably linked to the sea and what better way to commemorate our island nation’s longest serving monarch than with a feast from the sea?”
All the action will take place on Poole Quay, with guest chefs including Ian Salmon from Rick Stein Sandbanks, Ian Gibbs from the Guildhall Tavern in Poole's Old Town, TV curry queen Sarah Ali Choudhury and Christian Ørner of Poole-based SALT Cø – who will be cooking live on the Seafood Stage.
As well as fresh fish, local produce stalls will be selling goods from gins to jewellery. The Purbeck Trout Farm will be showcasing their smorgasbord, The Porthole will provide open sandwiches and mackerel pate, and Weymouth Seafood will sell their sensational squid among many others.
A range of live music will be performed by acts including the Wareham Whalers, The Captain's Beard, All Funked Up, Chris Payn, Mischa & His Merry Men, Jimmy Hillbillies and Mother Ukers.
“Poole is my hometown, so I know how important fishing and the sea is to its identity,” added Ben.
“It’s great to see the town buzzing again with a thriving marine leisure industry so we want Poole Seafood Festival to be a showcase for Poole at its very best – you can taste the sea in everything we do.”
More than 10,000 people are believed to have attended the inaugural Poole Seafood Festival in September last year, which was one of the town’s first major events after most Covid-related restrictions eased.
The free to attend festival opens from 10am until 10pm on Friday, 10am until 9pm on Saturday and 11am to 6pm on Sunday.
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