A THREE-DAY exhibition of ten Dorset-based artists returns this weekend for the first time in four years after being stopped by everything from fires to pandemics.

Art@Eype - once a regular July fixture - is set to return for the first time since 2017.

The event will take place at the Eype Church Centre for the Arts, from this Friday, July 16 until Sunday, July 18.

Art@Eype was last planned in 2018, but the exhibition was cancelled just two weeks before the event due to the fire at St Michael's Trading Estate which housed the studios of the co-ordinators of the event.

As a result of this, some of the affected artists took more than a year to fully recover their working practices so the 2019 event was also unable to go ahead and 2020 was, of course, cancelled on account of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year's event will feature the show's organising team - creative photographer Sally Davies, portrait painter Elizabeth Sporne and imaginative artist David Brooke - alongside seven other artists, painter and pastellist Caroline Ireland, mixed media artist Sue Barnes and collagist Ali Tebbs, all from Bridport, and ceramics specialist Stephen Yates and textile artist Holly Yates, both from Portland. Rounding out the field will be Poole-based painter and illustrator Brian Freelander and sculptor John Wolfe, from Mangerton - both were scheduled to appear in the cancelled 2018 event.

One of the events organisers, Elizabeth Sporne, said: "It's very exciting for all of us that this event is able to go ahead.

"Obviously we were all so devastated after the fire - a lot of the artists, including David Brooke, lost a lot of their work - and we had to cancel the event with just two weeks to go. The year after that, the feeling was that we were still badly affected by what had happened. And then obviously there's the pandemic and we've all been stopped for doing any events.

"This is the first external event we've been able to put on since 2019, so we're very pleased it's able to go ahead."

Sally Davies, another other event's organisers, said: "We're very much looking forward to being able to put this event.

"We are being very careful, following the government guidelines - masks will be worn, social distancing will be in place. We want people to feel comfortable and safe."

All ten featured artists will be on hand to discuss their work throughout the weekend.

The event will run from 10am until 5pm on Friday and Saturday, and from 10am until 4pm on the Sunday. Entry will be free to all along, with free parking.

Current coronavirus measures will be in place on the day.