Bridport bounced back from lockdown at the weekend with the town’s first socially distanced concert since the coronavirus outbreak.

Residents enjoyed live music from local musicians in the Millennium Green on Sunday as they celebrated ‘Bridport Bounces Back’.

All the big events in the Bridport calendar, including music festivals, shows, the carnival, fundraisers and more were cancelled this year, but one of the organisers, Chris Deacon - who organises Bridport Folk Festival - said that when the town council expressed a wish for an event to lift the spirits of residents, it sparked a challenge.

He said: “Bridport Bounces Back concert was created just for that purpose. The folk festival team and the continued successful partnership with the Bridport Town Council rose to the challenge.

“To be clear, no one has taken the Covid-19 situation lightly and only following discussions with the town council officers, great consideration and careful planning, the decision was made to go ahead with a concert for local people performed by local musicians, designed to be a truly Bridport event.

“The much-admired Bridport music scene has been in the doldrums for months and musicians, such as myself, have been frustrated by the lack of venues and opportunities to perform and were craving the chance to do so.”

Organisers had such a great response from musicians that maybe a sequel could be on the cards.

They want to thank all those who performed: Acoustic Rooster, East Street Band, Fat Marrow Blues Band, Garry ‘Slide Guy’ Smith, Lucy Roberts, Mutter Slater Band, Shelby’s Elbows and Skalatans, as well as sound engineers Peter Wilson and Chris Barnes, stewards, town council staff and Tim Russ.

Chris added: “It has been quoted that this concert was ‘Bridport at its best’. Thanks to all who made it possible and in doing so, clearly defined itself to be a well-deserved role model for others to follow.”