A new season of Wareham Wednesdays in Dorset is underway, starting with a nostalgic look back to the end of World War Two.
Now in its 15th year, the popular summer series brings fun and entertainment to Wareham Quay every Wednesday throughout August, giving away more than £25,000 to local charities and good causes over the years.
The Silhouette Show performed a tribute to the Andrews Sisters on the Wareham Quay stage
Dressed in their 1940s best
From humble beginnings – it was set up in 2014 to bring more custom to town centre pubs and shops on quiet midweek evenings – it has also become a big draw for holiday makers and visitors from across Purbeck and further afield.
Over four weeks in August 2025, thousands of people are expected to join in themed evenings of fun with live music, entertainers, local food, fairground stalls and major events including a pirate invasion, a fancy dress wheelbarrow race and a raft race down the river.
The first festival was held on Wednesday 6th August 2025 and celebrated the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Days, the official end of World War Two in Europe and Japan in 1945.
Folk came dressed in their best 1940s party clothes, sang along to wartime hits from an Andrews Sisters tribute band including Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, and admired authentic military vehicles which parked up for the evening on Wareham town bridge.
Super soldier Captain America and close friend Peggy Carter rocked Marvel’s 1940s vibe
“A plan to help reenergise the town”
Antony Pack, the new chair of Wareham Wednesdays, said:
“Back in January 2011, Mark Howlett of Farwells Newsagents and Mark Gannon of Tradewind Graphics had the brilliant idea of getting a few local business owners and licensees together to come up with a plan to help reenergise the town.
“It was decided that Wareham would benefit from holding an event once a week throughout the summer holidays. As most of the new committee were licensees, a day in the week worked best for them, and Wareham Wednesdays had a nice ring to it!
“With lots of very generous donations from local businesses we were able to pay for public liability insurance, build our own stage, pay for fireworks, live bands, car park closures and a license and stock for the bar.
“Our first year was very basic, but a resounding success nonetheless and within a few years we were able to start giving to local charities from our donated profits.
“Over the years, we have been able to place a defibrillator on the Quay, move the town’s CCTV monitors to the police station, replace the Saxon sword on the roundabout, get the town clock chiming again, and help local charities along the way.”
GI Joes and Jills welcomed visitors to the town for a celebration of VE and VJ Day, 80 years on
Historic wartime vehicles proved a great draw during the 1940s themed evening
Different charity chosen each week
Antony added:
“We soon outgrew our handmade stage but due to all the fundraising we were able to start hiring a professional stage, and thanks to the generosity of the Quay Inn and the Old Granary we were able to put on bigger bands and better fireworks.
“We are now in our 15th summer and even though we now attract thousands of visitors to our events, costs have risen dramatically.
“But thanks to the generosity of our visitors we can still put on these great events and hopefully will do so for years to come.”
Paramedic Dave Thom and doctor Katie Muscroft showed the crowds how Basics Dorset makes Purbeck a safer place
Official Wareham Wednesdays merchandise helps boost funds for chosen charities
Drive out to patients in blue light cars
A different charity is chosen each week to benefit from collections at the event, and the first of those for 2025 was Basics Dorset, a volunteer care service staffed by medics which works to save the lives of critically ill patients in the county.
Katie Muscroft founded the Dorset branch of Basics after a friend of hers was saved by the Somerset team, given surgery at the roadside to repair a collapsed lung following a motorcycle accident when it was too foggy to get the air ambulance out to him.
Katie, a doctor based in Dorchester, said:
“Despite suffering a collapsed lung, severe internal bleeding, fractured ribs and shoulder blade, my friend went on to make a full recovery, returned to work and is back to running marathons.
“Had he been closer to his home in Dorset, that life saving intervention may not have happened as Dorset did not have a Basics service at that time – so he asked me to set it up here and after 21 months of campaigning, fund raising and training, we finally started in June 2018.
“Our volunteers are doctors and paramedics who usually work in the county’s hospitals and GP surgeries, and out of hours they are on call for the ambulance service, able to respond to accidents day or night, in any weather.
“When called on, they drive out to the patient in their own blue light car, usually reaching them in minutes, and with their medical skills, specialist equipment and powerful drugs can get hospital level treatment to people who may die otherwise.”
Basics Dorset has treated more than 500 seriously ill and injured patients in the county since being set up, but gets no Government funding and needs public support to pay for equipment, fuel and training.
Visitors to Wareham Wednesdays dressed in their best 1940s party clothes
The Quayside Barn has taken on a superhero theme for August to help raise money for local charities
Wareham Wednesdays 2025
Wednesday 13th August
- Superheroes evening and fancy dress wheelbarrow race, with a children’s superhero fancy dress competition, live music from the Britpop Boys tribute act and local band Fever Street, and a firework display, raising money for Dementia Friendly Purbeck.
Wednesday 20th August
- Pirate Invasion of Wareham Quay, with water cannons launched from a pirate ship on the river. Party band The Leggomen will play, fresh from their success at the Jurassic Fields Festival, and a magician, local band and fireworks, will help raise money for Purbeck Parkinson’s Group.
Wednesday 27th August
- Neon Night and Raft Race, with prizes for the fastest, most creative, and wackiest rafts. Entertainment from Queen tribute band Flash, a Punch and Judy professor, and a firework display. Chosen charities for the evening are MNDA East Dorset and the Wareham Disabled Club.
Crowds begin to build up on the Quay as an evening of fun gets under way
Funfair stalls and a bouncy castle and slide helped to pull in the crowds
The main attraction for the first night was the Emma Hardy Band
Dorset magician, juggler, ventriloquist and entertainer Jamie Jambo kept the kids amused
The bunting was brought out as VE Day celebrations got under way
Further information
- More details on the 2025 Wareham Wednesdays
