THOUSANDS of people filled Poole Quay for the first day of the inaugural Poole Seafood Festival.

The two-day event, organised by Dorset Food festivals, aims to celebrate the town’s maritime and fishing heritage with a wide range of food stalls and music acts.

Although some stalls were forced to pull off at the last minute due to staffing issues, organiser Ben Dyas is happy with how the new festival is going.

He said: “It has been hard getting here and there have been a number of reasons for that. Some of the local businesses that were planning on attending had to pull out because they were short staffed.

“We have got to get a good range of traders to these events which is not always straightforward, but I feel we have done pretty well.

“We are pleased with the turnout so far for the event, we must have around 6,000 people here already.”

Bournemouth Echo:

During lunchtime, visitors tucked into classic seafood dishes such as mussel, oysters, mackerel, fish curries and traditional fish and chips as they perched along the Quay or in front of the event’s bustling music stage.

Aside from seafood, crowds could choose from pizzas, Thai food, curries and sweet treats from across the world.

Top chefs including Sarah Ali Choudhury and private chef and chocolatier Christian Ørner hosted cookery demonstrations on the Seafood Stage and let crowds’ sample some of their dishes.

Bournemouth Echo:

Crowds can expect to be entertained this evening by top tribute act UK Queen before a firework display at 9pm which will bring the first day of the festival to a close.

Ben added: "We are grateful for Poole Harbour commissioners for helping us put on the event.

"One of the best things we have going one here is the Crown Hotel have teamed up with BH Food to put together a range of oysters, mussels and fresh fish. They have been phenomenally busy all day.

"On the demonstration stage, we have a host of brilliant chefs giving tutorials on how to cook some great dishes. Tomorrow we have Ian Salmon, head chef at Rick Stein’s restaurant here in Poole.

"For the first day of our first event here, we are very happy with how things are going and hope more people can come down and see us tomorrow."