A HATFUL of fun was had by all as thousands gathered in Bucky Doo Square on Saturday for the Bridport Hat Festival.

Click here to see our fantastic gallery of pictures from the event.

From unicorns to rollercoasters, swans to windmills, the imagination and creativity of the town ran wild as the popular festival returned to Bridport.

People came from all over the world, as far as Australia, Canada, Dubai and the USA to join in the fun.

The mad-hatters stretched throughout the town, congregating in Bucky Doo square, Millennium Green, Bridport Youth Centre, the Town Hall and various shops and pubs.

Founder Roger Snook said: “It has been fantastic, I am very impressed with the standard of the hats and there are some great designs, we couldn’t have asked for better.

“This festival just gets bigger and better every year, I can’t believe how big it’s got. It started out like a woodlouse and now it’s like a millipede!”

There were five categories in the competitions that were judged in the arts centre forecourt by Roger Snook, singer Hank Wangford and Carole Denford, editor of The Hat magazine. Carole and Hank were full of praise for the contestants, Carole said: “I am very impressed with the imagination that has been shown and the amount of work that has gone into the hats, everyone has done very well.”

Hank said: “The standard has been very good, and has kept up the standards that have been shown in previous years.”

After winning the Best Lady’s Hat competition, Margaret Genender said: “I am absolutely delighted, I never expected to win it.

“I came last year and enjoyed it so I thought I’d give it another go and it is great.”

Guy Heathcote, or as he was known on Saturday, the unicorn, won the Best Man’s Hat competition, after travelling from Southampton.

He said: “Somebody else made it, but I thought I’d bring it here and have some fun with it, and I’m certainly getting a lot of attention from it.”

The Most Elegant Couple title went to Wendy and Ronnie Murray.

There were a lot of entries in the children’s competitions, and in the girls’ entries Hettie Erica came third, Phoebe Winding came second with her Swan hat and Iola Carter-Knibbes, dressed as a Spanish maiden finished first.

In the boys’ section, Oscar Pitt scooped first place with his sandcastle hat, second place was Theo Dunn with his racetrack hat and in third was Kristian McCann with his army hat.

A full list of results is available on our website bridportnews.co.uk and more pictures can be found at bridportnews.co.uk/photographs