A FAMILY festival will be bringing an ‘extreme skate park’ and reverse bungee jump to Weymouth seafront during the Olympic Sailing events.

Weymouth Bayside Festival is costing organisers around £700,000 to stage and will encompass a 13,300 square metre site behind the Pavilion theatre.

Highlights will include performances from 250 bands across the two-week period, an arena and food court, street theatre, more than 50 retail stands, plus a Discover Dorset zone featuring up to 20 local artists and craftsmen.

The site, which has a capacity for 8,500 people, will also boast a Jurassic exhibit, a technology zone with all the latest innovations and gadgets, giant screens throughout the site and a Try Sailing or Kayaking simulator.

Managing director Joe Hall said: “I’m most excited about the reverse bungee and professional skate park, they’re going to be really spectacular.

“I’m also extremely excited about the entertainment we’re going to put on the main stage. It will be a mixture from local choir and theatre groups to regional rock bands, cookery displays and even a military marching band.

“We’re looking to book 250 bands over the two-week period.”

The festival is expected to be ticketed, although the company behind it Mainsail Limited has pledged to keep costs at a nominal rate.

Mr Hall said: “There’s no funding behind this project and it’s going to cost the best part of £750,000 to put on.

“I’ve got to find that money somehow. We’ve done a lot of research on ticketing in the area and we would be looking at a very small fee, almost the equivalent of going from Weymouth to Dorchester by bus.

“We really want people to come and relax in a family environment with a maritime feel.

“We anticipate that the total project value will be in the region of £1.5million, that’s the scale of the event.”

He added: “It was a lengthy tender process and we beat eight other companies to win the contract.

“It’s quite an undertaking.

“We’re bringing our expertise of Cowes Week to the Weymouth Bayside Festival.

“We’ve run a large part of the shore-side programme at Cowes Week for the last seven years.

“We’ve also worked on the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and the Fastnet Race.”

Mainsail Limited is working closely with the borough council in order to stage the event, while the council is working with existing businesses such as Condor Ferries to ensure it runs smoothly.

With minimum attendance levels of 50,000 people per day forecast in Weymouth, the festival is expected to attract between 170,000 and 250,000 people during the course of the Games.

Weymouth Bayside Festival will be opening daily from July 27 to August 12 2012 from 11am until late. To find out about exhibiting opportunities contact the Mainsail sales team on 01983 200901, bands wishing to get involved can contact Simon Ledger by emailing simon@mainsail.co.uk