TWO sea and beach events are being lined-up to pull in the crowds to Tendring this summer.

One will be staged in Clacton on June 18 and the other at Dovercourt Bay on August 13.

The Beside the Seaside events are following on from two successful years of the Clacton Sea and Beach Festival, which attracted 50,000 each year.

Now Tendring Council has signed up the Harwich Festival of the Arts to lead on both sites and to provide fun and activities in another part of the district as well.

In the past the Clacton event was over two days and now it will be one day at each venue with a host of traditional seaside entertainment, water sports and beach family fun sports activities.

It is also anticipated that there will be a stage for bands and other musical entertainment at both sites.

Tanya Ferguson, Tendring Council’s councillor responsible for tourism and culture, said a lot of thought went into the way forward over the winter and what was the best way of adding to the council’s already extensive events programme.

“Eventually we came up with the idea of one day in Clacton and one in the Harwich area, rather than basing everything at Clacton over two days. Now there will be an event in June and another one in August and we hope that people from across Tendring and beyond will enjoy going to both and having twice as much fun.

“We feel Dovercourt Bay will be another perfect venue and I am looking forward to finding out more about the line-ups when they are announced.”

Peter Davis, from the Harwich Festival of the Arts, said his team was delighted to come to an arrangement with the council to take on the running of Beside the Seaside.

He said: “A strong programme is starting to take shape for both Clacton and Dovercourt Bay and we will soon be in a position to name names and provide information about the line-ups.

“They promise to be exciting fun events with plenty of activities for all ages and something which will provide a boost for the local economies of both towns.”

It is expected further announcements about the events will be made in the coming weeks.