Expect a dish of delights when you wander along Weymouth’s harbourside on July 13 and 14.

The resort is once again hosting the Dorset Seafood Festival 2013, widely regarded as one of the most convivial and tasty events in the county’s annual calendar.

The event is now the largest free seafood festival in the UK, with tens of thousands of visitors. Every year it takes over the picturesque setting of Weymouth’s Old Harbour to celebrate the sea and all its bounty.

This year organisers have introduced two new events at opposite ends of the entertainment spectrum. B-side is an evening festival of live music, DJs and film while during the day The Business of Fishing will highlight the importance of sustainable harvesting of the seas with a mix of talks, panel discussions and practical cookery demonstrations.

Organiser Roger Dalton said: “I think B-side will be brilliant and will encourage people to stay overnight and make the most of the town, but we would be neglecting our duties if we didn’t have something to explain the importance of fishing sustainably.

“The festival isn’t just about having fun, there is a serious element to it. The chef Mark Hix will be there with a panel, we will show a film, there will be public debate and to lighten the tone people can also attend demonstrations about crab dressing and oyster shucking.”

B-side is a local arts organisation that will be serving up a free atmospheric outdoor art event, called Wrack and Drift, on July 13 between 7.30pm and 11pm.

Festival organiser Brian Cooper said: “We recognise the importance of broadening the event’s offer and are committed to increasing its appeal. The b-side pop-up event will allow visitors to enjoy the festival until the sun goes down and experience the uniqueness of the resort on a balmy summer evening.”

Wrack & Drift will be a unique outdoor pop up event mixing film, sound and music.

The evening will start with a live DJ set by Ram Jam with a seamless blend of new bossa, ragamuffin, dancehall, jazz, funk and soul, mixed up live with Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Queen, The Jam, Perry Como, Louis Armstrong, The Temptations, Radiohead and Adele.

The film screening will start at 10pm next to the old Weymouth Pavilion car park.

It is sponsored by Weird Fish and the festival’s title sponsors Pommery Champagne will be serving chilled fizz throughout the event.

An hour-long film created by b-side includes edits from the 1916 silent film classic 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, cult surf movies, animation and local artist films.

The improvised soundtrack for the film will be provided by live DJs and musicians including awarding winning Bristol-based musicians Eyebrow, Pete Judge and Paul Wigens, all mixed and served up by former Hacienda club star Andrew Cleeton.

As well as the b-side extravaganza, all the usual fishy suspects will be in town for the festival.

Taking part in this year’s extended conviviality will be local chefs Mark Hix, Mat Follas, John Wright, Lesley Waters and Russell Brown who are joined from the South West by Matt Cook and Duncan Lucas.

There will be tastings and cookery and fish filleting demonstrations on the quayside, a fish auction raising funds for the Fisherman’s Mission, and the finals of the Dorset Young Seafood MasterChef of the Year contest.

There will also be more than 80 stalls providing more street food than you can gather up in a fishing net.

Organiser Brian Cooper said: “The festival was originally sold as the Oyster Festival, but oysters are not everyone’s cup of tea so we decided to widen it to seafood. We also decided to call it the Dorset Seafood Festival because we thought it would appeal to a wider audience.

“This year we have more than 80 stalls and other organisations taking part. There are so many people here I’m very pleased about it and it is a delightful thing to work with and also come along to.”

For a full programme of events for the Dorset Seafood Festival weekend visit dorsetseafood.co.uk