Thousands turned out to enjoy local delicacies and family fun at a festival over the weekend.

The Weymouth Food and Family Festival (formerly known as the Weymouth Food Festival) took place on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30 from 10am at Lodmoor Country Park.

The two-day event featured a food court with 'over 60' food and drink stalls as well as arts and crafts stalls full of local producers and visitors were also invited to take part in a circus workshop, crazy golf, dance classes, and a bubble party for the kids.

Dorset Echo: Weymouth Food and Family Festival 2023

It is estimated that around 6,500 people attended across the two days.

Co-organiser Simon Stewart said: "We were really pleased with the visitor number this year. It has been the most we have had this far which means we can continue on with this event in the future."

This year the event featured a chilli eating contest for the first time. The event saw six contestants go head to head each day to see who could stomach the hottest chillis. The contestants fought through ten rounds each getting hotter.

Co-organiser Venetia Randall said: "The chilli eating contest went down a storm. Went up to 2.2 million on the Scoville scale."

Another of the events was a Dog Companion Show which has five event categories such as Best Smile, Waggiest Tail, and Big vs Small Dog.

Venetia Randall added: "Everyone seemed really positive. People just putying their litter in bags and things like that which make a big difference. It is hard work to get an event organised so it really makes it for us when people come and have a good time.

"We try really hard to keep the costs down at the entrance because costs for everyone have risen and so people can have a nice day out.

"Thank you to our sponsors Dream Cottages, all of our lovely visitors, the musicians and local bands who were absolutely fantastic."

This is the third time this festival has been run, and a date next July has already been booked for next year.