BAITER Park was brimming with festival-goers today as they enjoyed a mix of live music against the backdrop of Poole Harbour.

The first of its kind to be organised at the recreation ground, Poole Harbour Festival attracted hundreds of families.

As they sat down on hay bales and picnic rugs, crowds were treated to a variety of live music acts. Big-name tribute bands including Stereotonics and Oasish performed on the main stage today, as well as Prodigy tribute The Jilted Generation.

Eight-piece reggae, dub and ska band SN Dubstation and Remedy Sounds were also in the line-up.

Just across the site at the second stage, The Mother Ukers, Nick Tatham, and Nicole McNally performed in the tent.

To accompany the entertainment was a host of stalls selling street food, world cuisine, and local produce and crafts.

Meanwhile, young visitors enjoyed meeting Peppa Pig and Elsa from Frozen and taking part in a number of eco art, circus skills, and slacklining workshops.

They were also treated to storytelling sessions, fire shows, and magic from Mr Merlin and Okey Dokey the Dragon.

Organiser Ben Dyas said he was pleased with the turnout and the positive feedback from visitors.

“I’ve done a lot of events in the midlands and when I moved down here, there wasn’t a lot going on. Baiter Park seemed like the ideal place to put an event on.

“This is the first festival we’ve organised here so there’s always a big risk. The site’s a bit bigger than we’d planned and it’s taken a while to fill up, but we’ve had well over a thousand people in so far, a mixture of tourists and locals. The weather’s not turned out too badly, either.

“The festival is aimed at people who used to go to Glastonbury but now they’ve got little kids. In the evening, we’ll have people congregating around the main stage when the bigger bands are on. During the day, we’ve had loads of families sat on the grass, which is what it’s all about really.”

Around 30 acts are performing across two stages over the weekend. On Sunday, a Red Hot Chilli Peppers tribute band is performing, supported by a number of local bands and artists, such as Black Water County, The Rock & Blues Company, Matt Black, Lewis Jordan Brown, and Chris Payn.

Ben added: “We’ve had a good variety of bands and some more local main bands on Sunday – ones that play Mr Kyps and the Lord Nelson so they’re known around here.”