THOUSANDS of visitors have turned out for sun, seafood and shanty songs at Waterfest Weymouth this weekend.

The new event was held to celebrate the maritime history of the town and encourage a boost for traders outside the summer tourism season, and visitors and businesses largely agreed the event had already been a great success on Saturday.

Organised by Weymouth’s Business Improvement District and seafood festival organiser Roger Dalton, the harbour hosted a bustling mix of stalls, with artists, boatmakers and local food producers all showcasing their goods.

Undoubtedly two festival highlights were the aqua jet-boarding displays and tall ship Le Marité, whose mast towered above the crowds on Custom House Quay.

There was plenty to see and do for the whole family too including crabbing competitions, fancy dress, an appearance from a Jack Sparrow lookalike and much more.

The Exmouth Shanty Men and Island Voices entertained passers-by with music, there were shipbuilding demonstrations, and Weymouth gig rowing club held races up and down the harbour throughout the day.

The event closed with a performance from The Preventymen and Finn McGirk.

Ros Wilmot, 64, from Weymouth said: “I think it’s very good. We loved seeing the jet-boarding, we didn’t expect it to dive into the water so that was fantastic. We’d definitely come back.”

Ruth Williams, 42, was visiting Weymouth from North Devon and said: “We think it’s great. It’s really nice to see all the boats and activities. We have been looking forward to the aqua jetpack demonstration. It seems to be well organised and I hope it’s a success.”

Nick Holland, owner of Fudge Cottage, decked out his stall with a rainbow assortment of fudge and nougat.

He said: “It’s been nice and busy today, there have been lots of people. It’s lovely, I love Weymouth and I come down here often to sell fudge. I will be back again in a few weeks anyway but I would like to come to this event again.”

Kim Major, 28, from The Turks Head Inn in Chickerell, said: “From the number of customers that we had it’s been good. We saw officials coming round helping us set up in the morning so it’s been run well. If there is more footfall in future years we would come back.”

Event organiser Roger Dalton said he estimated between five and ten thousand people attended and visitors and exhibitors were already talking about next year’s event.

He said: “Given it’s the first event, it’s gone much, much better than I could have ever hoped and there has been a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere. We have been overwhelmed by the flyboarding display, the Harbour turned into a theatre and everyone was applauding. The French crew of Le Marité think it’s gone well too and the tall ship looks fantastic.”

Nigel Reed, Chairman of the Weymouth BID, said: “It has been very successful and I think the weather helped too. It’s brought things people haven’t seen before. Everyone is having a great time. It’s doing what it’s supposed to do as an event and it will only get better.”