SPRING is in the air this weekend with a chance to pick up some goodies for the garden, marvel at a Weymouth invasion and celebrate St David's Day for free.

*DISCOVER the true story of Dorset's bloodiest secret with the Crabchurch Conspiracy Commemoration Weekend in Weymouth.

Organised by Mark Vine and Steve Booth, re-enactors will be taking to the streets tomorrow (28) and Sunday in a series of staged events in and around the town centre.

The weekend will remember a particular event in the English Civil War as a result of a royalist plot to overthrow the parliamentarian garrison within the twin towns of towns of Weymouth and Melcombe.

The password that the plotters and their accomplices used on the first night of their attack was 'Crabchurch'.

At 12pm tomorrow (28) prisoners will be paraded from The Boot to the Old Rooms at Weymouth Harbour. 'Soldiers' will then take them along the quayside and over the bridge into Melcombe Regis to the Sailor's Return for 1.30pm where the re-enactors will be available for a chat.

They will arrive at Finns at 2.15pm before heading back across the harbour for 3pm where the soldiers plan to ambush the last man as he emerges from the house.

Evening celebrations will be at Weymouth Pavilion from 7pm with The Dolmen, Professor Ronald Hutton, Jane McKell, the Dorset Wrecks and Cap'n Steve Howl performing.

Tickets are available from the box office.

Sunday's events will feature the trials and execution of the Royalist Conspirators starting from Weymouth Old Town Hall at 11am followed by a procession for wreath laying at significant sites.

*FIND a spud you like at Maiden Newton's Annual Potato Day and Seed Fair at Maiden Newton Village Hall from 10am to 2pm tomorrow. (28) There will be homemade cakes and refreshments and a local arts and craft exhibition/sale.

Come and choose from a huge range of 80 varieties of potatoes (some rare and exclusive) available per tuber, Heritage and Heirloom seeds including flowers, onion sets, shallots, garlic bulbs, fruit trees, soft fruit and other edible plants such as rhubarb and asparagus.

*ENJOY some stand-up comedy on Portland tomorrow (28) night with Comedy on the Rock at the Kimberlin Club in Blacknor Road.

The evening will feature five up and coming comedians from across the UK.

All proceeds will be going to Harlequin and Weston football club.

Doors open at 7.30pm and the comedy starts at 8pm. The venue will stay open until late.

Tickets are £10, and available from the Kimberlin Club, or portlandcomedy.co.uk

*PICK up some perennials at a Plant and Gardening Fair at Forde Abbey in Chard, Somerset, on Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

Experts and enthusiasts alike will be happy to chat about their stock - a list of stallholders is on our website.There is free entry to the Fair, the kitchen garden, the tearoom and the gift shop.

*CELEBRATE St David's Day on Sunday at Weymouth Pavilion with a free concert from 3pm.

The Minnesingers Male Chorus and Vocelle Ladies Chorus visiting from South Wales will perform some Welsh Folk Songs, popular songs as well as theatrical classics. They may also throw in some Tom Jones. Tickets must be booked at weymouthpavilion.com *A SHOW featuring music and spoken word is at Broadwindsor Comrades Hall tonight (27), Winterborne Stickland Village Hall tomorrow (28) and St Nicholas School in Child Okeford on Sunday.

Artsreach present Serious Kitchen - The Whispering Road - a story designed to take you on a fantastical journey to a land where every bird and beast has power, and every encounter a deeper purpose.

All performances are at 7.30pm. Go to artsreach.co.uk for tickets.