Weymouth Town Council launches 2020 bumper programme of festivals and events

Weymouth will host over 200 fabulous events and festivals this year, welcoming over a million event visitors from all over the United Kingdom and overseas. The events programme is also estimated to help generate over £300,000 for many local, national charities and good causes.

Every year the programme bustles with exciting events and this year is no exception, with many colourful community events, fetes & fairs, live music performances, sports championships and a variety of other fantastic events taking place throughout the year.

Many of the town’s iconic events are back in 2020, including:

•             Wessex Folk Festival – Friday 29th – Sunday 31st May

•             Armed Forces Celebrations – Saturday 20th – Monday 22nd June

•             Sutton Poyntz Victorian Street Fayre – Sunday 28th June

•             Nyetimber Dorset Seafood Festival – Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th July

•             Nothe Fort Artillery Weekend – Saturday 12th – Sunday 13th September

•             Lions Beach Motocross – Sunday 18th October

•             Seafront Guy Fawkes Celebrations – Thursday 5th November

•             Pavilion Christmas Pantomime – Saturday 12th December – Saturday 2nd January

•             Chase the Pudding – Sunday 20th December

•             Lions Christmas Day Harbour Swim – Friday 25th December

This year, Weymouth Town Council will also be hosting a special three-day concert on the beach to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE featuring local groups, bands and choirs performing on a stage on Weymouth Beach from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May. Later in the year, a Service of Remembrance will take place on the seafront to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VJ Day on Saturday 15th August

Big sporting events will once again feature strongly throughout the year, including one of the world’s biggest Ironman 70.3 Triathlons. This prestigious multi discipline event, taking place on Sunday 20th September, attracts over 2,500 entries from Britain and overseas.

Each year our parks and gardens play host to a number of events including smaller scale community fairs, picnics and open-air musical concerts which are all free to enjoy.

Cllr David Northam, Chair of Weymouth Town Council’s Services Committee, said:

“This year’s programme is once again packed full of a diverse range of great events offering something for everyone. Many of our seasonal favourites are joined by some fantastic new events, making the programme bigger and better than ever.”

“I’d like to encourage residents to spread the word and come and take advantage of this wonderful community-driven events programme which continues to entertain, inspire and generate fabulous publicity for the town.”

Claudia Moore, Weymouth BID Manager, said:

“The bustling 2020 events programme for Weymouth really emphasises the rich variety of what is on offer throughout the year. Events and festivals are internationally recognised as a major driver to attracting visitors to an area, promoting the destination and adding extra visitor spend right across the local economy. One of the BID’s primary aims is to support event promotion and maximise the many opportunities.”

Phil Say, Director at Weymouth Pavilion, said:

“The Weymouth Pavilion is proud to support the town’s vibrant events programme and be a superb hub for entertainment and culture in Weymouth. The Pavilion team work hard to deliver a diverse and busy programme of shows and community functions. Throughout the year we are proud to welcome thousands of visitors and provide a great venue for many West End shows and abundant local talent.”

Steven Booth, Marketing Manager Nothe Fort, said:

“We are very proud of the 2020 events programme in Weymouth and continue to support in any way we can by hosting a range of cultural and quality events at Nothe Fort. We aim to develop this programme by working with our partners to enhance the visitor experience and promote events all through the year for economic benefit to the area. We feel as a major visitor attraction we can make a significant contribution to tourism to the town and beyond.”

For a full listing of events taking place in Weymouth and to download the 2020 Events Programme, please visit our Events page.