Briport’s famous Hat Festival takes place on Friday 2nd September and Saturday 3rd September 2016 (main day), at locations throughout the town.
The Hat Festival has enough to keep the whole family entertained with Bridport’s eclectic Saturday market, trade stalls and music throughout the town. Children will love the storytelling in the library on Saturday morning at 11, the street entertainment and all the fun goings-on in Millennium Green.
Climb St Mary’s Tower
If they’ve still got some energy, they can join their parents in climbing the tower of St. Mary’s Church on South Street which the St Mary’s bell ringers will open to the public between 10.30 and 12.30 on Saturday morning. It’s a unique opportunity to get the best view of the town in party mode.
If you’re curious as to what your hat says about you, especially if you have an assortment of garden vegetables on your head, then local psychic Robert Day will give you a psychic hat reading. He can be found on Millennium Green all day on Saturday.
And if you’re curious as to how you look to others, Petra will also be on Millennium Green and happy to draw a caricature of you, warts and all. It will be a great souvenir and is sure to bring much joy to your friends.
Mass Hat Photo
The absolutely essential, not-to-be-missed, don’t even think about being elsewhere event of the weekend is the MASS HATTED PHOTOGRAPH on Bucky-Doo Square at 1pm sharp. Thousands of people will gather on the closed road to have their picture taken from several upstairs windows and will raise their hats in the air (if they can). The fun carries on across town after the photo shoot with Bridport partying late into the night as only Bridport can.
The Hat Festival will have competitions going on for all ages and abilities.
Competitions
There will be a serious competition for milliners and hatters (ladies and gents hat makers) judged at 5.15pm by Ashley Wild (senior designer) and Rebecca Witt (production co-ordinator) from multi-award-winning milliners Vivien Sheriff. Entries will be on display during the day in the town hall between 10am and 4pm. The level of entries in the past has been outstanding, with entrants coming from across the UK. The pieces are works of art and are worth seeing even for non-aficionados.
Trade Stands
The millinery and hat trade stands that will be displaying their wares in the town hall during the day will also be judged for a prize. Judging starts at 5pm.
Slightly closer to the ground, there will be a prize for the ‘best hatted dog’, judged from 11am-12 on Millennium Green. All entrants (the dogs, not the owners) will get a tasty treat with a special prize for the top dog. Be warned! If you don’t treat your pooch to a bit of headgear and bring them along, you may end up in the doghouse.
Children from our local schools have been hard at work producing a poster for this year’s festival and there will be a display of entries in the town hall during the day. The organisers have really enjoyed looking through the drawings and look forward to sharing them with you.
With several thousand hats being worn, and many of them home-made, you can imagine that competition would be fierce if there was a prize at stake. Well, there isn’t a prize; there are four prizes, and all of them well worth having. Between 10am and 1pm, stewards will be walking through the crowd in Bucky-doo and Millennium Green shortlisting hats of note and handing out entrance badges. Make sure that you’re there! Prizes for best gent’s, best lady’s, best boy’s/girl’s and most elegantly-hatted couple will be up for grabs, as well as runner-up medals. Judging and prize-giving is between 1.30 and 2pm. Entrants in the past have included chickens, lampshades, seagulls, barbeques, bread rolls and vegetables. Let your imagination go and take home a prize!
Bridport Hat Hurling
On Millennium Green, hats will be flung, and the further the better. The Bridport Hat Hurling Challenge is once again being set and headgear will be flying in the name of fun and frolics between 10am and 12.45pm with a prize presented after the last fling. Show everyone what you’re made of and toss a trilby, fling a fedora or chuck a cap.
The Ropemakers are hosting their popular ‘Hatty’ quiz and raffle on Tuesday the 30th of August at 8pm to test our knowledge of all things headgear. How did the fedora get its name? How many corners does a pirate’s hat have? What sort of hat did Sherlock Holmes wear? Is it myth or fact that we lose half our body heat through our heads? All will be revealed. (These questions aren’t in the quiz by the way – sorry).
For those who have dreams of winning big in Monte Carlo or Las Vegas, The Market Place on West Street is holding a casino evening on Saturday at 8pm with proceeds going to the festival charities.
Fortunes may not be won and lost during the evening, but fun will definitely be had.
See the full info on http://www.bridporthatfest.org/
