THIS year’s Easter celebrations began in glorious sunshine with hundreds of people taking part in events across the region.

But it was a weekend of two halves, with rain causing some events to be cancelled yesterday.

On Saturday more than 1,200 children took part in the annual Easter Egg trail at Upton Country Park in Poole. A spokesman from Borough of Poole, which operates the park, said visitors had an “eggcellent” time.

The spokesman added: “Children tried their hand at different activities including: tennis, slacklining, bush craft as well as learning about Bat Rescue, the National Trust and the RSPB.

“They explored the whole of the country park, making the most of the beautiful Walled Garden and play trail before collecting their chocolate reward.”

A record number of people took part in the annual duck race at Bournemouth Winter Gardens on Saturday afternoon, which raised more than £500 for the mayor’s chosen charities.

Cllr Anne Rey, who has been organising the event for the past 20 years, said: “It was lovely. We had a lot of visitors and residents come down and we were really lucky with the weather.”

She added: “We had 14 races all together, which is a record for us.”

And there was a record number of entries for this year’s Easter quarter marathon, organised by the Rotary club Bournemouth East Cliff.

Race director Keith Loveless said: “It went very well.

“We had far more people take part in the quarter marathon than we have for quite a few years,”

More than 300 runners completed the route and 35 people took part in the fun run, which is now in its second year.

Mr Loveless said: “We raised between £2,500 and £3,000 from the race entry fees which will be split between three charities - the national charity Prostate Cancer, a local scouting project and Bournemouth Food Bank.”

The Dolphin Marching Band kept the crowds entertained at their fun days in Poole Park, which conclude today.