A town was alive with colour as one of the most and whacky events in its calendar returned for a ninth year.

Bridport Hat Festival took place in the town, with 'Haturday' seeing a good turnout for both visitors and different varieties of hat.

Despite a bit of cloud in the morning, the afternoon sun brought out more visitors and made the event very successful.

Brian Atkinson, who is on the Bridport Hat Festival organising committee, said: "All of the feedback I've had has been very positive.

"The overall public had a wonderful time, with prizes given in Bucky Doo Square, followed by The Mad Hatter's Tea Party on the Millennium Green in the afternoon.

"The music throughout the day both in Bucky Doo and on the Millennium Green was excellent, the young musicians were excellent and put on a lovely concert.

"All in all it was a great success. The weather was good, and the tea party was an absolute treat.

"People are having fun, and that's what its all about."

This year was the first that some of the competitions had been expanded and moved to the Millennium Green, where they were under the watchful eye of HatFest founder and T Snook shop owner, Roger Snook.

Bridport mayor, Cllr Barry Irvine, whose own headgear for the day was borrowed from the Bridport Pantomime Society, was tasked with judging some of the entries.

Cllr Irvine said: "It was excellent, we were fortunate to have a nice day, there were lots of people there of all ages, and there were some brilliant entries, making it difficult to choose between them, but I had help."

Next year marks the biggest challenge yet for organisers, as the event goes into its 10th year, although Cllr Irvine feels that the organising committee will be able to pull off something special.

Speaking about next year's event, Brian said: "The event always works, but with the 10th year next year, we have got to raise the bar to the next level.

"You've got to be there to appreciate it, but the success is very much down to our sponsors and the volunteers who help run it on the day, so thank you.

"Thank you also to everyone attending and also to their hats, it's really appreciated."

To find out more about how you could get involved with the festival, you can email general@bridporthatfest.org or visit bridporthatfest.org