Bridport Hat Festival brings in the crowds

Anyone with a bare head felt out of place as locals and visitors put on their favourite titfers for the annual Hat Zone event over the weekend.

The streets were packed with hundreds of mad hatters in their caps, bowlers, toppers, fezzes and towering home-made creations.

Liz Paine, of the Hat Festival committee, said a lot of work had gone into some of the homemade headgear.

She said: “It’s been amazing, we had crowds and crowds of people.

“The sun carried on shining which was incredible given the bad forecast.

“There was a wonderful atmosphere in the town and there was an incredibly high standard of hats and costumes.”

She added: “We had a lovely time on the Millennium Green with live jazz and a hat hurling competition.

“There were lots of trade stands and entertainment, everyone has had a brilliant time.

“We’ve had youth bands playing in the town centre and they were amazing, really, really good.

“The live music and entertainment carried on into the evening.”

Bridport hatter Roger Snook, who had the idea for the festival in 2010, said this year’s festival could not have been better.

He said: “There was a marvellous array of hats, absolutely fantastic. You couldn’t wish for better, it was absolutely mad, wild.

“There were beautiful hats, crazy hats, it was a hatter’s dream.

“Who said the hat was dead? It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant, it couldn’t have been any better and there was no rain.”

The weekend also included talks about hats, dressing up opportunities, a concert by Hank Wangford, RSVP Bhangra and disco and picnics to music on the Millennium Green.

As well as music there was a parade, workshops, competitions, food and much more.