2009 Festival Events

Make sure you come down to the Waterfront and enjoy Dorset’s very own Seafood Festival over 11th and 12th July. Among a plethora of events taking place on this famous old harbourside will be cooking demonstrations by top chef Mark Hix and Masterchef winner 2009 Mat Follas; a Dorset Young Seafood Chef of the Year Competition; Fishtucker Trials; filleting demonstrations; a wine matching exhibition; a fresh fish auction and book signings by the famous chef authors. With more than 30 stalls selling a range of associated goods there’s something for everyone.

Pulling all these items together will be our compere Joe Wadsack. Joe, a renowned wine expert, is also a TV presenter and a regular on BBC’s ‘Saturday Kitchen’ and UK TV foods ‘Great Food Live’.

The Festival will include a Seafood Village with a menu covering a wide range of seafood dishes, all available to try for a small charge. Ingredients will include; crab, lobster, scallops, mussels, oysters, mackerel, cod, gurnard and many other Dorset-caught species. The emphasis will be on sustainable fish stocks and enabling visitors to try species they may not have encountered before.

Many of the restaurants around the harbour will feature festival menus and some will be offering a chance to sample their signature dishes from stalls on the harbourside. So, if you are a foodie, where else would you go!

An event to watch out for is a live diving display by the Historical Diving Society. Watch as these enthusiasts on diving history dive using hand pumps and copper helmets designed in the 18th century. Another is the Fishtucker Trials competition, where representatives of charities will taste fish ‘delicacies’ whilst blindfolded in a bid to win a cash prize for their charity.

We are sure you will want to come and sample the delights on offer at the Seafood Festival, but if fish is not your thing then it is worth coming just to take in the amazing atmosphere on Waterfront Weymouth. This historic Old Harbour area of Weymouth has seen the Spanish Armada, Black Death and the Civil War and is now home to the Dorset Seafood Festival.

As well as all the events, demonstrations and competitions along the waterfront, there are also 2 days of live folk music giving the festival a real carnival atmosphere amongst all the cafes, bars and restaurants in Hope Square.

The Dorset Seafood Festival is Sponsered by Seafish Southwest and Villa Maria New Zealand Wine and Weymouth College.

Opens 11.00am on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday.
Closes 6.30pm on Saturday and 5.30pm on Sunday.