WEYMOUTH’S Platinum Jubilee celebrations will well and truly spark to life with a firework spectacular on Thursday, June 2.

The display is to take place in Weymouth Bay at 10pm following a beacon lighting ceremony at the Nothe Fort. The beacon lighting will take place at 9.45pm as part of a nationwide initiative seeing hundreds of beacons lit across the United Kingdom to mark the beginning of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.

Nothe Fort Artillery will fire off a gun salute from the North Terrace just prior to the lighting in a display that will be heard across the bay.

The firework display for the Platinum Jubilee is Weymouth Town Council’s first of the year, with other displays lined up on August 1 and 15 (which will be low noise displays) with a further display on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29.

Cllr Ann Weaving, newly elected Mayor of Weymouth will be at the beacon lighting ceremony and watching the fireworks from the Nothe Fort on June 2.

Cllr Weaving sais: “The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be a fantastic occasion and I can’t wait to see our community come together to celebrate it.

“The fireworks on Weymouth seafront are always extremely popular with local people and visitors and create a brilliant spectacle for all to enjoy. It will be a wonderful way to kick off the festivities on this special extended bank holiday weekend.”

As part of the Jubilee bank holiday weekend celebrations, there will also be fairground rides on the seafront and the Pavilion forecourt, and the evening will also coincide with the weekly Thursday night bike night evenings on the Esplanade.

The announcement comes just days after Dorset’s coastline received a royal boost when it was revealed the Queen’s Baton would pass through Weymouth and Portland.

On July 4, the relay route runs along the coastal towns on its first day of a marathon 25-day tour of the English regions. Thousands of ‘Batonbearers’, each with inspiring stories, will carry the baton during the journey across England including those nominated in recognition of their contributions to their local community.