A WHOLE host of colourful characters helped transform Boscombe into Wonderland and kick-start a weekend of Easter fun.

Two Mad Hatters, an anxious White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee were among those on hand to entertain children with crazy street performances and creative activities.

The Boscombe Easter Adventure aimed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and provide some free fun for families.

Easter egg trails took place on Good Friday and will take place again on Saturday, with children tasked with finding shops with a White Rabbit in the window and collecting enough stickers to fill a grid.

All children received a chocolate egg for completing the challenge and were entered into a prize draw to win one of 10 Samsung Galaxy mobile phones.

There were plenty of arts and crafts on offer at Creative Kids in the Sovereign Centre and today sees the Friends of Boscombe Chine Gardens hold their annual family fun day.

Cllr Chris Wakefield, who set up the Friends of Boscombe Chine Gardens, said: “We’ve been holding our family fun day for over 10 years now. "It’s about the Boscombe community coming together and enjoying everything that is good in Boscombe in the fantastic setting of Boscombe Chine Gardens.”

Today’s treasure hunt will extend to Boscombe Market and there will be games and street performances in the precinct as well as inside the Sovereign Centre.

Organiser Clare Belmont said: “We had about 40 children complete the treasure hunt in just the first hour or so. Last year we had about 250 complete the challenge so we’re expecting to be busy.

“The aim is to attract visitors and also just to lay on some free fun that all the community can enjoy. We just want them to have a fun Easter. The children are loving the costumes and all the characters and enjoy looking for the White Rabbits in the shop windows.”