PICTURES: Picnic in the Park returns to Willowbed Field in Chickerell

Willowbed Field was awash with blankets and camping chairs as the Picnic in the Park event returned.

From 1pm to 8pm, families could sit in the park and enjoy live music from bands Modern Disciples, The Shakespearos, Slight Return and Aaron & Barbara.

Slight Return band at Picnic in the Park 2024 (Image: NQ)

Visitors could also find food and ice cream stalls dotted around the park.

Although there were cloudy skies and a mild summer breeze, the weather stayed warm reaching highs of 19 degrees. 

Stalls at Picnic in the Park 2024 (Image: NQ)

Madeline Pritchard, who lives in Chickerell, came for the day with her family and said everybody was enjoying the "fun" atmosphere.

She said: "We only just got here but it's a really nice and fun atmosphere. The music is also really good. It's so lovely to see everybody in Chickerell coming together. We live in Chickerell so it's lovely to have it on your doorstep."

Madeline Pritchard and son Monty Gool (Image: NQ)

The free event is largely family orientated with plenty of activities for children to enjoy such as an inflatable slide, trampolines and a mini carousel. 

This year is the first time that mothers Andrea Schooling and Ellie Mutter from Chickerell have attended the event and said they look forward to taking part in the activities with their children. 

There were trampolines and slides at Picnic in the Park (Image: NQ)

Andrea said: "This is the first time we've come down. We just saw it looked nice and chill, because we've got the little ones we thought it's perfect, Once they wake up we can hopefully do more. It's lovely listening to live music and just sitting down and chilling."

Stalls at Picnic in the Park 2024 (Image: NQ)

Sinead Nolan, who came with her son and lives in Weymouth town centre, and has shared how she wishes more events like this would take place locally. 

She said: "We only live five or ten minutes away. It's nice to have something on where you don't have to travel far and spend loads of money. It's nice that they can have events like this particularly in Weymouth as there's not much to do in Weymouth normally. 

Crowds enjoying Picnic in the Park (Image: NQ)

A strong sense of community spirit was felt throughout the day, keenly felt by resident Ebony Howard who attends the festival every year. 

Ebony Howard waving at her children (Image: NQ)

She said: "It's so good to see the Chickerell community to all come together. It's a lovely day out we come every year. It's brilliant. I live just around the corner. It's so nice that your local village does something like this and brings everyone together.