A SPECTACULAR nine days of sport, music and entertainment will be celebrating the borough’s maritime links with action-packed fun on the water, land and airwaves.

Weymouth and Portland’s fourth Spirit of the Sea maritime festival, supported by the Dorset Echo, will begin on Saturday July 2 and continue until Sunday July 10.

Celebrating the area’s close relationship with the sea, the festival is returning with even bigger and better favourites.

These include the Henri Lloyd Weymouth Regatta, which may include some Olympic contenders, the Dorset Seafood Festival, that has a waiting list for stands, Schools Beach Festivals, watersport taster sessions and free entertainment on the seafront with Weymouth Beach Live.

New for this year is the festival’s very own radio station – Spirit Live! broadcasting on 87.7 FM from 9am to 10pm each day and a ‘treat station’ by the official Olympic sponsor Cadbury’s, which includes live chocolate sculpting sessions with famed British food artist Prudence Staite.

The Moving Tides children’s procession is also making a comeback with an expected 500-strong colourful costumes, music and dance parade through the town centre and harbourside.

Event organiser Roy Griffiths said: “Once again, it always amazes me how much everybody gets behind Spirit of the Sea.

“This year the real excitement is Spirit Live! with students from the college and Bournemouth University and some of the schools around.

“We’re always looking to create something new and that’s brought a new dynamic to Spirit of the Sea that everybody’s really excited about.

“The seafood festival has gone from strength to strength, there’s actually a waiting list for stands and it will cover both sides of the harbour.

“We’ve got the kids doing sport on the beach, the nine days of local bands being profiled with Beach Live and taster sessions for people to have a go.

“This year some of the events will be tapping into the rich maritime heritage of the area with the Revive the Lerret fishing boat event, which is something we’d like to see going forward.”

He added: “Moving Tides is taking place this year on the same day as the seafood festival, it’s going to be fantastic and we’re looking at nearly 500 people in the parade.

“It will be really special this year building up to an even bigger event next year, the 2012 year will be massive.

“Cadbury’s, a key sponsor of the Games is basically doing a trial of a treat station for the Olympics, which is really exciting.

“Last year it was estimated that the festival brought £1.5million to £2million to the local economy, the big thing is it’s a legacy project so once the Olympics has come and gone, we’ll still have a major event every year.”

Dorset Echo editor Toby Granville said: “We are delighted to be media partners of the Spirit of the Sea Festival. It promises to be an amazing event and a real launch pad for the celebrations that will culminate in the Olympics next summer.”

For more information visit www.spiritofthesea.org.uk

• The Spirit of the Sea prize draw is jointly in aid of Weldmar Hospicecare Trust charity and Spirit of the Sea.

Prize draw tickets will be on sale at many of the events during the Spirit of the Sea Maritime Festival, including: Brewers Quay Spirit Festival Village next to Dorset Seafood Festival; Maritime Modelling Festival at the Pavilion Forecourt; Beach Live on Weymouth Beach; Tudor Picnic at Sandsfoot Castle and Portland Museum The draw will take place at Joseph Weld Hospice Garden Fete, Dorchester on Saturday, July 16 at 3.45pm.