The countdown has started to the annual Great Yarmouth Maritime festival with a feast of fun planned for the crowd-pulling, quayside event.

Sponsors of the festival, in association with Seajacks UK Ltd, gathered at the town's historic Venetian Waterways recently to launch the 15th event.

The festival celebrates Yarmouth's proud maritime past, present and future, with visiting ships, live music, street entertainment, arts, crafts and children's activities.

Organised by the Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority (GYTA) with EastPort UK and the borough council, this year's festival takes place on the historic South Quay on Saturday, September 6, from 10am to 6pm, and Sunday, September 7, from 10am to 5pm.

More sponsors than ever before have decided this year to get involved in the town's most prestigious event, which attracts around 30,000 visitors.

In addition to Seajacks UK Ltd, sponsors include 3Sun Group, Bateman Groundworks, BDO LLP, Birketts, Bunn Fertiliser Ltd, ELM Contracts, E•On Climate & Renewables, Gardline, MDF Transport, Perenco, Persimmon, Petrofac, and Wellington Construction, many of which have supported the festival since its inception in 2000.

Aileen Mobbs, festival chairman and GYTA honorary president said: 'We are hugely appreciative of the support that the festival garners from many local businesses which enable us to put on such a fantastic event every year.

'Great Yarmouth has a fascinating maritime past and is enthusiastically embracing its maritime future as demonstrated by several of our sponsors who are involved in the world-class energy projects that are currently taking place just off-shore.

'The Maritime Festival is probably the only event Great Yarmouth holds which unites the town's essential tourism and energy businesses, working together to welcome our thousands of visitors to the festival over the course of the weekend, promoting both aspects of our seaside town to happy festival-goers.'

Activities and entertainment are free, except for river and sailing trips. A donation of £1 per visitor towards festival costs is welcomed.

Shanty and maritime music will be performed throughout the weekend at three different venues on South Quay, with street theatre and costumed characters all along the quay.

For more details, visit www.maritime-festival.co.uk. Alternatively, find out more on social media via Twitter @GYMaritime or Facebook via https://www.facebook.com/maritimefestival?ref=stream