Wow - what a weekend. Despite a little rain (does that make us a grown up festival?) we had a great turnout. We're waiting for the final numbers, but we're pretty sure we broke several of #DorsetFest 17s records!

Based on the feedback, this was the strongest music line-up to date with everything from Reggae to Classical. Friday night kicked off with Loose Screws, Badger Boys, Mission Impossible (and Neil Cowley) and headlined by the amazing Lionstar who will be playing with the legendary UB40 later in the year. These acts got the festival dancing and set the scene for an amazing Saturday. Saturday kicked off with emerging talent that included St Mary's Middle School (Puddletown), Taya Minchington and Ellie Timlin, before moving onto more established bands such as Grizzley & The Grasshoppers, Nina Garcia, Patch & The Giant, Mother Ukers, Galaxy Thief , Zoe Schwarz and One Word. We also had amazing guitar medleys by Paul & Joe and a selection of hilarious classical masterpieces from Graffiti Classics (and the mad Irishman). James from Abbey 104 DJ'd into the evening to keep the music flowing between the evening acts and headline Ben Waters rounded off a great weekend of music with two hours of incredible boogie playing. Who was your favourite?

For kids (including grown up kids) we had Jamie Jigsaw and his circus workshops that kept kids on the edge of their seats. We had hula hoop workhops from Hoop On, faceppainting, glitter painting, henna tattoos and lots of glow sticks from Weldmar Hospicecare as the light disappeared.

The food and drink didn't let us down either with pizza, Mexican, Thai, holoumi fries, fish & chips, calamari,, home made cream teas, cakes, ice cream, local beer, wine and even a gin bar.

Overall a great night and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did

We have a selection of lost property that was found on the site after the festival. If you are missing anything, please e-mail us the details at dorsetmidsummerfest@gmail.com and we'll see if we can find it.

We're also going to be wrapping up the festival and taking learnings. If you have anything you'd like to share - good and bad - we'd love to hear it so we can learn from it and improve for #Dorsetfest 19. Just leave a comment here (or e-mail us).

Otherwise, thank you for being an amazing audience and we look forward to seeing you for #DorsetFest 19 so put the date in your diary - 21st/22nd June 2019

After a record year in 2017 we knew we had a challenge to make #DorsetFest 18 bigger and better, especially as it's our 5th anniversary! We believe the team's risen to the challenge.

Dates

After the success of our first Friday night at #DorsetFest 17, we've decided to start the festival then and to open up the festival have three great bands. As a result, the festival kicks off at 6pm on Friday 15th June until about 10:30pm. It then restarts at mid-day Saturday 16th June until 11pm.

Music

When we asked last year for ideas of bands you'd like to see we were blown away when we received over 120 suggestions! There's been some tough decisions to make, but we believe this years mix of styles has something for everyone. Local legend Ben Waters will be headlining Saturday, while Friday will be headlined by Lionstar and Mission Impossible Band (with Neil Cowley) supported by a great range of acts that includes Galaxy Thief, Grizzly and The Grasshoppers, Patch & The Giant, Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion, The Threetles, Graffiti Classics the Comedy String Quartet and Mother Ukers with more to follow.

For the Family

We are proud to be a family friendly music festival. This year the family entertainment will be focused on Saturday 16th June and includes Jamie Jigsaw, a regular act at #DorsetFest, with his circus tricks and workshops that appeal to all ages and his shows are included in the £3 childs entrance ticket. We'll also have Creative Clay For All workshops, face painting and even a shooting gallery. For the grown ups, there's a Holistic Zone for those wanting to relax with a little pampering, run by award winning Mellulah Therapy & Yoga Retreats who are also planning to run a yoga session on Saturday morning for the campers

Food & Drink

You're there for the day so we always try to ensure there's a great range of food and drink available for all tastes and diets. This year we'll have pizza, Fai's Thai, Weymouth Seafood, BBQ, Hog Roast from The Ansty Herd and Mexican from La Cocina Mexicana. All to be washed down with Cerne Abbas Brewery beer, award winning sparkling wine from Langham Wine Estate, a gin bar, Dorset cream teas, cake freshly brewed coffees and even fresh milkshakes

Camping Pitches

For those who want to make a weekend of it, there are a limited number of camping pitches available for tents and campervans/caravans, with both a BBQ and vegan breakfast available. The breakfast isn't included in the proce though. Sorry.

A "Not For Profit" Festival

While we're not a registered charity, all money raised will go towards #DorsetFest 19, maintaining three historic local churches that date back nearly 1,000 years and Weldmar Hospicecare, a charity dedicated to providing specialist end of life care for people living in Dorset.

Tickets

To avoid growing too big and losing the intimate, family friendly atmosphere, tickets are being limited for the first time in 2018. There should be enough, but we recommend you book early to avoid disappointment (and to take advantage of the saving you can get until 31st May). For more information on pricing and to book your tickets, CLICK HERE

Location

The festival is held in a natural ampitheatre in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the slopes of Bulbarrow Hill. The postcode is DT11 0HQ for those using Sat Nav, but due to the vagaries of rural Dorset postcodes, this will take you to a location about a mile from the festival site. It'll be we signposted from there in case you get to the wrong location, but more details on the location can be found here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Following the success at DorsetFest 17 we're pleased to confirm we'll have the Pimm's tent up and running again at DorsetFest 17.

As a bit of fun ahead of the day, why not remind yourself of some of the great adverts that Pimm's have created over the years by visiting their YouTube Channel?

Deborah Clarke always knew she wanted a career in art. During school work experience at a ceramic studio pouring moulds and fettling, which inspired her joy of ceramics and led to a BA (hons) in Ceramics at Bath Uni. Since completing her degree, Deborah has exhibited across the county and the country.

Deborah firmly believes that there is always a need to have fun with clay - in the design, the creation, the firing or in the way the finished pieces look. She’s taken this passion to develop pop up clay workshops for any age group, from toddler groups to residential care homes. She can tailor make workshops to any themes or ability.

At DorsetFest 17 Deborah’s pop up workshop is focused on air drying clay so you can take away what you make at the festival. She brings lots of tools and textures for you to use. All you need to bring is your imagination. Whether it’s mermaids or Jurassic monsters, rock stars or divas, animal or vegetable, Deborah is on hand to help you make your vision a reality and create a truly unique piece for yourself (or maybe as a sneaky present for Granny or Grandpa).

If you’re interested in arranging your own workshop and you can’t wait for DorsetFest, then why not contact Deborah direct on www.facebook.com/CreativeClayForAll/

This is a debate that's even floored Prime Ministers. In April 2015 The Telegraph* reported on how David Cameron stumbled into one of food's fiercest controversies on a trip to a North Devon tea room where he pronounced that the correct way to eat a scone is to put the jam on first, then the cream. This is a point of honour between the people of Devon and Cornwall. In Cornwall it's jam then cream, but in Devon it's cream then jam.

This controversy rages on with celebrity supporters and influential organisations wading in where the brave fear to tread. For example, etiquette gurus Debrett's** say you should spread your jam before dolloping cream on top and a poll from afternoontea.co.uk claims that 60% support this view***

So are you one of the majority or one of the right...we mean minority? Either way, we love our cream teas and the ever popular tea tent will be serving delicious homemade cream teas throughout the day.

If you want to avoid the controversy altogether then don't worry. There will also be a great selection of homemade cakes to enjoy along with your cup of Dorset Tea.

* The Telegraph

** The Cream Tea Society

*** (and headline image) Somerset Live