There are a host of family-friendly events taking place across Dorset and Hampshire this month – here are our big four

Dorset Seafood Festival
The multi-award winning Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival returns to Weymouth’s historic harbourside on July 11 and 12, bringing together Champagne and seafood, family entertainment and a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of the superb seafood available to use just off our wonderful shores.
Visitors to the free event can enjoy Pommery Champagne with fresh oysters and tapas, the Hive Beach Cafe pop-up restaurant at Finn Square, different seafood dishes from almost 100 stall, live cooking demonstrations from regional chefs.
Learn how to fillet a fish like a pro in the Sea Life Tower’s “how to” zone, and celebrate the ongoing Great British Whelk Revival while children enjoy face painting and crabbing.
Complementing the many stalls selling cooked seafood will be Weird Fish’s latest clothing, kitchen utensils, bakery, pancakes, fine art, fishy-themed gifts and more.
With the emphasis on responsibly sourced seafood from the region where possible, the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival helps raise money for the Fishermen’s Mission charity.
• Further details from www.dorsetseafood.co.uk

New Forest Show
Join the Adventure is the theme for this year’s New Forest Show, taking place at New Park in
Brockenhurst on July 28, 29 and 30, open daily from 8.30am to 6.30pm.
Attractions include showjumping and livestock competitions, with cattle and sheep, poultry, rabbits, cage birds and honey bees; a Show Farm where children can interact with a variety of small animals; ferret racing, falconry displays and a live blacksmith’s forge as well as more than 600 trade stands, a craft marquee, Education Zone and Cookery Demonstration Theatre featuring chefs from
Hampshire and the New Forest, all of which are either New Forest Marque or Hampshire Fare
members.
There will also be a Forest Fun Factory and Sheep Show, as well as Hampshire’s answer to the Chelsea Flower Show, with landscaped gardens, sweet pea classes and flower arranging competitions.
• Tickets and further information are available from www.newforestshow.co.uk

Larmer Tree Festival
Tom Jones, Levellers, Bellowhead and Bill Bailey are just some of the acts taking to the stage at the 2015 Larmer Tree Festival, which takes place from July 14 to 19 at Larmer Tree Gardens on the Dorset/Wiltshire border.
More than 100 bands and performers will be entertaining visitors to eight venues, while festival-goers can also enjoy a Comedy Club, workshops, street theatre and carnival, all set
in a beautiful Victorian garden.
Known as the “happiest, friendliest, quirkiest festival in the land”, the five-day event boasts stunning views, roaming peacocks, opulent pagodas and magical woodland, and is easily accessible for those in wheelchairs and families with buggies.
More than 20 different food stalls are on site, as well as well-stocked bars and a couple of convenience shops for good measure.
• To find out more, visit www.larmertreefestival.co.uk

Swanage Carnival

Hailed as the “premier carnival on the South Coast”, Swanage Carnival and regatta takes place from July 25 right through to August 1.
This “must do” attraction has so much to offer everyone, from the magnificent two-mile carnival
procession, vibrant with dance, sound and colour, to the beat of live bands playing on the main stage and in the carnival marquee.
Three amazing firework displays, art competitions for children and adults, talent show, treasure hunts, dog show, parachute jumps, and all the water and land sports, and not to be missed, the amazing Aerostars Acrobatic Air Display, plus much more.
In 2014 the event donated £20,000 to good causes, both local and national, and organisers hope to beat that this again in 2015 with the help of sponsors and donations.
• More information is available from www.swanagecarnival.com