THE SHOW did go on and the humble onion was celebrated as part of a 200-year-old tradition – despite the wrath of Storm Brian.

The storm wreaked havoc across Dorset at the weekend, meaning organisers of the Onion Jack Tour, which arrived in West Bay from Roscoff, France, on Friday, had to rethink the celebrations.

The event is celebration of the Roscoff pink onion and the ‘Onion Johnnies’ – the travelling door-to-door onion sellers who, for generations, brought a taste of France to UK households.

The festival marks the traditional ways of harvesting the onions by hand, carrying them by horse to the port and making the voyage to England as it was done in days gone by.

The event started with the traditional procession of bringing the onions and other local produce from the farm to the French port on bicycles and horse-drawn carts. At the port, the onions were loaded into wooden sailing boats and brought over to the UK, landing in West Bay ready for the start of the festivities on Friday.

However, the planned market, live music, circus act and food tasting events were moved to the Salt House, shielded from the weather.

Event organiser Val Fox said the storm did not dampen anyone's spirits.

“We had to put down the site on Thursday," she said. "We took it down because the weather made it too dangerous. We had to do everything in the Salt House, which we managed.

“We still had a very good event. A lot of people still came down and we had a good turnout for the parade – a lot of people watched the show.

“The event turned out to be a bit smaller and we could not welcome as many people as we would have liked, but it was quite cozy and everyone had a good time. We’re very happy with it and we had a nice welcome from people in Bridport. Everyone was very happy, despite the weather.

“We will be back again in two years.”