If you’ve spent the week saying “we should probably do something this weekend,” good news: Weymouth and Portland have already organised it for you.
Half term is in full swing, the weather’s behaving itself for once, and there’s a proper mix of things happening across the town over the next few days. Whether you want family activities, live music, art, walks, markets, pub gardens or just an excuse to avoid sitting indoors pretending to enjoy life admin, there’s plenty going on.
Nothe Fort is going full pirate mode this weekend with family activities running across half term, while younger adventurers can also head to the Pirate Art Adventure Workshop at Upwey & Broadwey Memorial Hall on Sunday.
Weymouth Pavilion has Toddler Time: Superworm on Thursday and The Sheep Detectives on Saturday, giving families a few options if the words “I’m bored” have already started appearing at home.
There’s also FRO-POP Kids Brunch at The Upwey Wishing Well on Saturday morning, combining food, entertainment and the annual challenge of convincing children to sit still for more than four minutes.
If your ideal weekend involves fresh air and wandering about looking thoughtfully at the sea, there are some lovely slower-paced events happening too.
Stories by the Sea returns with a free guided walk from Weymouth Library, while Nordic Walking tours are running across Weymouth and Portland over the weekend, combining sightseeing with the feeling that you’ve technically done exercise without suffering too much.
Honestly, this time of year the town does a lot of the hard work for you. Even a quick harbour walk somehow turns into bumping into people you know, stopping for coffee and accidentally spending two hours outside.
Dorset Art Weeks continues across the area this weekend with exhibitions at venues including the Royal Manor Theatre and St George’s Studios.
Meanwhile, the Pop Up Museum’s fossil exhibition celebrating Weymouth’s prehistoric history and local collectors is quietly one of the most interesting things happening in town right now. Definitely worth a wander if you fancy something a bit different between coffees and pub stops.
Sunday brings the Weymouth Farmers & Makers Market at Waterside Holiday Park, packed with local makers, food stalls and the usual collection of things you absolutely did not plan to buy but somehow end up carrying home anyway.
There are also brunches, pub lunches, harbour coffees and enough beer gardens reopening for summer to make finding a table feel mildly competitive by Saturday afternoon.
There’s live music spread across the town all weekend, with venues including The Black Dog, The Tin Cat, The Gloucester, Finns, The Rock Hotel, Sailors Return, Chapelhay Tavern and The Donkey Social all hosting entertainment across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
If singing publicly after two drinks is more your thing, karaoke nights are also happening across town throughout the weekend.
Weymouth Pavilion hosts Nigel Kennedy on Saturday evening, while Sunday brings bandstand music at Greenhill Gardens and cabaret at The Aqua Portland.
One of the nicest things about Weymouth at this time of year is that you don’t really need a perfect plan. The town sort of unfolds around you once people start heading outside.
You go out for “a quick walk”, end up at a market, hear live music somewhere near the harbour, bump into three people you vaguely know and suddenly it’s somehow dark and you’re holding chips.
Classic Weymouth weekend.
Something good is happening.
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