MUSICIANS, pirates and Morris dancers brought Weymouth harbourside to life at the weekend for the triumphant return of the Wessex Folk Festival.

The annual event attracted hundreds of people to Trinity Road and Hope Square for a weekend of mixed weather conditions ranging from glorious sunshine to drizzly rain.

Among the event highlights were more than 40 teams of Morris dancers, a concert by Jackie Oates in Hope Church, a ceilidh with Irish music by The Tree Fellhas, Appalachian dance teams and big names on the main and harbour stages.

Popular folk acts included James Findlay, Finnian McGurk, Barber Taylor, Jim Bryden, Fraser Nimmo, Press Gang and The Unprepared Jug Band.

Organiser Roger Quigley said: “We had a lovely day on Saturday, the atmosphere was beautiful with everyone walking around with smiling faces.

“It started to rain at about 1pm on Sunday but we carried on and kept our fingers crossed.

“Everyone who has taken part has been a highlight for me – they came down here for barely expenses and gave their time and talent to make it a lovely festival.

“It’s been a year of effort leading up to the culmination of the weekend.”

He added: “We’ve had people coming from Essex, the Midlands and Scotland to play and support this event.

“Weymouth is the draw, they love the harbourside setting it’s the perfect venue for a folk festival.”

Borough Mayor Graham Winter attended yesterday to present prizes to the £50 draw winner and the festival’s song–writing competition champion.

Workshops on the spoons, bodhran, bluegrass fiddle and left-hand techniques gave people the chance to learn new skills and informal music sessions were also held in the King’s Arms and Sailor’s Return.

Jenie Jackson, chairman of MV Freedom, was among the dozen fancy-dressed pirates, who were fundraising for the event.

She said: “It’s been a lovely atmosphere, just seeing people’s smiling faces and everyone enjoying themselves.

“It was packed with hundreds of people and when it started raining everyone was like: ‘so what?’”