Music lovers turned out in force for a unique music festival.

Chesil Rocks 2017 at Langton Herring, near Weymouth, featured performances from a vast array of bands from Dorset and beyond on Saturday, including the Leylines, THE WTF Band, the London Gay Men’s Chorus and Slipstream.

Tim and Hilary Warren organise the event every year during the summer and put all the proceeds from the event towards Samaritans of Dorset.

This year 500 people came to the festival.

The festival had its usual range of food and drink stalls, with one new addition this year being the Rocktail Bar, serving various cocktails, including the specially themed ‘Chesil Rocktail’.

It also featured other forms of entertainment, including comedy acts and magic for the first time. 

Hilary Warren was delighted with how this year’s festival turned out and said there had never been such a good turnout for the event.

She said: “Lots of families and lots of people are discovering Chesil Rocks for the first time and never new that this happened.”

Hilary Warren admitted that some concern was caused in the morning by the wet weather, but they still managed to get the festival going.

She added that what makes Chesil Rocks better than Glastonbury is that it features local bands, good weather, with sea views, and “all profits go to charity.”

Tim Warren said they hope to raise a whopping £8,000 from the day, which is what they managed to raise last year.

Chesil Rocks is a leading fundraiser for the Samaritans of Dorset, raising around a quarter of the Samaritans of Dorset’s annual budget in each of the last four years.

Tim said: “The highlight for me is all this happiness.”

He added: “It’s an example of the community getting together and raising funds for an underfunded charity and having a good time as well. It’s good for community cohesion and when people do things together they feel better.” 

Festival-goers were found hugely enjoying the entertainment and stalls during the day.

Susanna Peats, 43, from Weymouth, who was there with friends, said: “We are having a lovely time.”

She added: “The atmosphere is very welcoming, it’s affordable and it’s a great day out and the children like it.”

Fran Gifford, 40, from London, said: “I was told what a great day out it was and I am having a great day.”

Steve Biggs, 32, from Weymouth came to the event with family and friends to see his dad perform in the C Sharp Blues Band – which he claimed was one the best blues bands in the south.

He said: “It is good for the kids and it is very family friendly. It’s safe and we will definitely come back next year.”

Hilary Warren said that the Chesil Rocks festival would be coming back for its seventh year next year, with the date to be confirmed.