Although the attendance was slightly down on last year’s event, thousands of people converged on the area around Arbroath harbour and the Beacon Green over the weekend for the 14th annual Seafest.
The ever-popular celebration of the town’s maritime heritage was voted a great success with warm and sunny weather throughout the two days and only a brief shower on Saturday.
The undoubted highlight of the entertainment on offer was the impromptu joint display put on by the Arbroath RNLI all-weather lifeboat Inchcape and the Xtreme Action freestyle jet-ski team.
After the jet-ski riders had thrilled the crowds with their gravity-defying stunts and the crews of the all-weather and inshore lifeboats had demonstrated their life-saving skills, the two groups came together as the Inchcape made large waves which proved to be the perfect liquid “launch ramps” for the jet-skis, allowing them to, quite literally, reach new heights and perform aquatic aerobatics.
The harbour marina was packed with resident and visiting yachts and other leisure craft-all decked out in colourful bunting for the weekend, and historic vessels like the Reaper and the Kommandoren welcomed visitors on board.
The fish market was busy throughout the weekend with the selling of seafood delicacies and some of the area’s top chefs delighted their audiences with their demonstrations of the preparation, cooking and serving the finest fruits of the sea.
The Knights of Monymusk historical re-enactment group kept the nautical theme going with their tales of repelling Viking invaders from the sea and, alongside their stand, Ian Spink was kept busy satisfying the almost insatiable public demand for his freshly-made Arbroath smokies.
The armed forces and emergency services were well represented and most of the town’s groups and organisations had their own stands to raise awareness of their activities and money for their funds.