A festival celebrating trade unionism is making its return to a Dorset village this weekend.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival started on Friday and will run until Sunday, with a host of music, entertainment and talks planned.

The festival commemorates the legacy of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. In 1834, six farm workers were sentenced to seven years’ transportation to Australia for forming a union.

It was a controversial move which sparked a massive protest across the country and the festival aims tokeep their story alive.

At the event, tales of modern day struggles will be heard with trade unions having helped several sectors organise strikes recently.

The current one is seeing junior doctors hold a five-day strike in what is being described as the longest walkout of its kind in NHS history.

There has been an annual gathering to mark the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs since 1930s.

Nowadays it is a weekend-long, family-friendly festival, with topical discussions and lectures from a wide variety of speakers.

Music is set to suit all tastes, while food stalls, campaign groups, trade union activities, a children’s area and films in a vintage mobile cinema will add to the entertainment.

Sunday also sees the wreath-laying at the grave of James Hammett, and a grand procession at 2pm which sees thousands march through the village.

There will also be various union and political figures in attendance, and in the past, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has dropped by.

The main road through Tolpuddle will be closed to all traffic from 1pm to 6pm on Sunday, when the festival will be free to enter.

On the Saturday, festival-goers will be subject to charges to enter the event. These will vary and depend on when you will arrive.

For more information, visit www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/festival/festival-entry