WITH more planes and helicopters than you can shake a stick at, aviation enthusiasts will be in seventh heaven at the Bournemouth air festival.

But what if your interest in planes extends only to the jumbo jet that takes you on holiday?

Never fear, say festival organisers. If the sky-high antics of the Red Arrows, Vulcan and Eurofighter Typhoon don't thrill you, there's plenty else that might.

For all four days of the free More Bus Bournemouth Air Festival, the entire stretch of promenade between Bournemouth and Boscombe Piers will be packed full of family entertainment.

There will be demonstration areas, crafts, market stalls, interactive areas, fairground rides and plenty of food and drink.

The RAF and Army will have mock-up cockpits so everyone can have a taste of life as a pilot and there will be an Army assault course, tanks and a static helicopter display.

Boat trips to the Royal Navy's RFA Mounts Bay will be available and for a real piece of history, war veterans from locally based organisations will be on hand to share their stories and memories.

As dusk falls on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, the air festival will take on a completely different format with the adrenaline-packed displays making way for slightly more serene entertainment.

Every afternoon, a series of hot air balloons will take off from the seafront and float across the sky to the Lower Gardens. They will then light up the night sky to musical accompaniment.

Visitors should also watch out for the Heliosphere on the Friday and Saturday evenings - a helium-filled balloon that rises and falls to music while the acrobat hanging below it tumbles and turns.

On Friday and Saturday, the Electroglide Angels will be practising their flying skills in the Lower Gardens and intrepid aviator Armitage "Tiger" Thompson will be entertaining the crowds in his miniature Spitfire aircraft.

There will also be flying demonstrations and static displays from the Liberty Raptor and Reptile Centre's birds of prey on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Many major retailers in the town centre will be extending their hours until 8pm. And at 10pm on the Saturday, a big bang firework display on the seafront will provide a dazzling finale to the penultimate day.

Don't miss our top flight coverage

THE Daily Echo will offer unrivalled coverage of the air festival, with four pages of reports and photographs in the newspaper every day, plus a video on our website.

Our talented team of photographers will be on hand to capture all the action, with all our photos available to view and buy online or in our Richmond Hill office. We also want to see your photos and we will be running a competition to find the best photograph taken by our readers during the four-day event.

Daily Echo sellers will be stationed in Bournemouth Square and on the seafront throughout the air festival, offering readers the chance to buy a special souvenir poster with their paper.

They will also be selling the official air festival programme, which has been produced by the Daily Echo. Priced at £5, this is a complete guide to Bournemouth's biggest event, including a map of the action and a full timetable of all the displays.

The programme is also available to buy now from the Echo's Richmond Hill office in Bournemouth and Dolphin Centre presmises in Poole, as well as the Bournemouth's Visitor Information Centre at Westover Road and Borders book shop in Bournemouth.