The tournaments organisers hope to make the festival the biggest of its kind in Europe. The event will include four separate Ruby Sevens competitions, live music, fancy dress, funfair and a range of family entertainment and activities, aswell as some celebrity guests, including rugby stars such as Lewis Moody, Austin Healey and many others.

The event has also attracted some serious sponsorship from Worthingtons and Nintendo.

In the evenings live music will be provided by Electric Mayhem, a well known Australian band, along with support from various DJ’s, there is camping facilities for around 3000, but spaces are going fast so you are advised to book early.

For more information visit the official website at: www.bournemouthsevens.com

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster at £20 for a weekend pass, £10 for children, Students or senior citizens, and £50 for a weekend pass including camping.

The event is being held at Bournemouth Sports Club, which is situated next to Bournemouth International Airport, the venue can hold approximately 10000 people.

Accommodation on the park consists of a range of self-catering caravans with a range of different specifications available in two or three bed formats offering upto 8 berths.

Facilities on the park include:

• Pools
• Heated indoor swimming pool
• Heated outdoor swimming pool with childrens paddling area (This pool is open End May - End August)
• SplashZone activities programme
• Aquacise (extra charge applicable)
• Surfrider (extra charge applicable)
• Water Tots (extra charge applicable)
• Aquajets (extra charge applicable)
• Learn2swim (extra charge applicable)

• Activities
• Sportszone activities programme
• Multi Sports court
• Nature Reserve
• Funworks amusements centre (extra charge applicable)
• Bowlingo (extra charge applicable)
• Pool Tables (extra charge applicable)
• Bike Hire (extra charge applicable)
• All weather bowling green (extra charge applicable)
• Boat Storage, Mooring and launching (extra charge applicable)
• Mini Golf (extra charge applicable)
• Outdoor Family FunZone (extra charge applicable)
• Luxury Spa Complex (extra charge applicable)
• Kids alive programme (extra charge applicable)
• Coke FC football coaching (extra charge applicable)
• Family tennis (extra charge applicable)
• Discover Archery (extra charge applicable)
• Discover Fencing (extra charge applicable)
• Mini Fencing (extra charge applicable)
• Tennis Courts (extra charge applicable)
• Multi Sports Court (extra charge applicable)
• Rockley Watersports (extra charge applicable) - Call 01202 677272 to book
• Sub Aqua Sports (extra charge applicable)

• Toddlers to Teens entertainment
• PAWs for 1-4’s
• FunTime for 5-11’s
• Family FunTime Shows
• Character Breakfasts
• FunZone Play Area
• Soft Play Area
• T-Co fpr 12 - 16+

• Shopping
• Convenience store with bakery and off-licence
• Gift Shop
• Hire Shop (extra charge applicable)
• Laundrette (extra charge applicable)

• Food, Drink and Entertainment
• Cafe Bar and Grill with satellite TV
• SportsZone Cafe
• Traditional Fish and Chips
• Summertime Barbecues
• ShowBar - Non-stop family entertainment.

• Additional Features
• Wi-fi available throughout the park (extra charge applicable)
• Family park rangers

Rockley Park Holiday Park
Hamworthy
Poole
Dorset
BH15 4LZ

Tel: 01202 679393

For more information visit the Haven Holidays website.

All Haven holiday parks offer a wide range of facilities tailored specifically for family holidays with loads to keep people of all ages entertained throughout the day and evening. Each park offers everything you and your family need from swimming pools, sports facilities, childrens club plus a choice of places to eat including licensed bars and restaurants.

Haven are part of the Bourne Leisure Group and have been offering family holidays for over 40 years, and strive to offer a fantastic holiday experience for the whole family.

Over recent years Haven have invested heavily in an ongoing refurbishment and improvement of all their parks, aswell as investing heavily in staff training, making Haven Holidays one of the premier destinations for UK holidays.

Haven’s four Dorset parks are as follows;

• Rockley Park, Poole - Rockley Park is a 5 star Holiday Park situated overlooking the historic Poole harbour, offering a range of activities offering family fun including tennis, bowls, crazy golf aswell as an outdoor pool.
• Weymouth Bay, Weymouth - Weymouth Bay Holiday Park is a really family friendly park with large expanses of grassy areas, a superb outdoor pool and an excellent adventure playground.
• Littlesea, Weymouth - Littlesea Holiday Park is a 5-Star award winning caravan park near Weymouth offering spectacular the views of Chesil Bank and the Fleet Nature Reserve.
• Seaview, Weymouth -Seaview Caravan Park is set on a hillside location offering beautiful views of the Dorset coastline surrounding Weymouth.

A brief overview of the restictions can be found below:

Abbotsbury

Sorry no dogs allowed.

Bournemouth

Contact the Beach Office on 01202 451781 for full information. Generally between 1st May and 30th September dogs are allowed to the west of Durley Chine and east of Fisherman’s Walk up to Hengistbury Head.

Bridport

• Burton Bradstock Beach - no dogs between 1st May and 30th September, except on East Beach.
• West Bexington Beach - dogs allowed in a restricted area.
• Eype Beach - dogs permitted.
• West Bay - no dogs to the west of East Cliff.
• Cogden - dogs allowed (please note that Cogden Beach is a naturist beach).

Christchurch

For full information contact the Avon Beach Office on 01425 272162 - Between 1st May and 30th September no dogs on Avon Beach, Friars Cliff Beach and Highcliffe Crow’s Nest Beach between Groynes H8 and H11. Dogs are allowed between the wave wall at end of Friars Cliff Beach and Groyne H8 at Highcliffe Crow’s Nest Beach, Mudeford Sandbank and Gundimore Beach.

Lyme Regis
Between 1st May and 30th September no dogs on Lyme Regis’s front beach. Dogs allowed on Monmouth Beach, Cobb Gate and East Beach. Charmouth Beach - no dogs from 1st May to 30th September.  Seatown Beach - no dogs.

Poole
No dogs from 1st May to 30th September.

Purbeck
Studland Beach - no dogs on Middle and Knoll Beaches from the 30th June to 1st September. Dogs allowed on Shell Bay and South Beach all year if on a lead and owners clean up after them. Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Worbarrow Bay, Kimmeridge Beaches - no dogs allowed.

Swanage
No Dogs from 1st May to 30th September.

Weymouth
No dogs on main beach from 1st May to 30th September. There is a dog area all year round at the Pavilion end of the beach and Preston Beach.

The park benefits from a large car park offering free car parking all year round.

Currently the tower park complex houses the following attractions:

• 10 screen Empire Cinema (previously UCI) - to find out whats currently showing at Poole click here.
• Bowlplex (Previously Megabowl) - a 26 lane bowling alley with Wimpey fast food restaurant, bar and amusement arcade, at peak times its recommended to book a lane in advance - Call the Tower Park Bowlplex on 01202 715907 - Visit the Bowlplex website by clicking here.
• Monkey Bizness - an indoor childrens activity centre. - Click here to view information on their opening times etc.
• Gala Bingo - A bingo hall run by Gala Bingo.
• Splashdown - billed as the souths best water park, it certainly doesn’t have much competition but its still a great day out for kids of all ages. Click here to visit the Splashdown website.
• LA Fitness - A member only gym complete with 17ft swimming pool. Visit their website by clicking here.

The park also has the following restaurants and snack bars:

• Exchange Bar & Grill
• Pizza Hut
• Burger King
• KFC
• Frankie & Bennys Diner
• TGI Fridays
• Flame Oriental
• Nandos
• Chiquito

The park and estate now comprises over 100 acres including gardens. parkland, woodland and shoreline, surrounding the original manor house, Upton House. The park is available to the public througout the year with no charge and provides a haven for a variety of wildlife with its diverse landscapes.

Dog walkers and cyclists are welcome, dogs must be kept on leads at all times, the parkland makes an ideal place for a family picnic and provides ample space for outdoor games and family fun.

The park is open every day from 9am to dusk.

For more information visit their website by clicking here.

The event is to be held at the Railway Hotel in Blandford between the 2nd and 5th of May 2008, and features 40 real ales from across Dorset and surrounding counties and the Channel Islands, aswell as traditional Dorset ciders.

The event also includes a range of live music and entertainment.

The Railway can be contact via the following methods:

Railway Hotel, Oakfield Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 7EX

01258 456374

railwayblandford @ btopenworld . com (remove spaces)

The whole of the town centre is closed for the day, and most shops and business are closed and replaced by a variety of street stalls offering a wide range of products and food, with many traditional stalls.

There are many events and attractions including a wide range of traditional fairground rides and stalls, and the town is usually brimming with people.

For more information visit the Georgian Fayre’s official website here.

This years carnival is scheduled to be held on Saturday the 6th September 2008.

Look out for fair which is always housed in the field in front of the crown hotel, with a range of popular and exciting fairground attractions, with rides suitable for all ages.

The carnival has traditionally coincided with a ‘Spot the oddity’ competition in local shop windows, which usually provides an entertaing walk around the town centre, sadly in 2007 a ‘where in Blandford is this’ photograph competition replaced the spot the oddity which was’nt the best idea to encourage non-local interest and participation.

The house was built by Sir William Martyn, and was the family seat for four generations.

Towards the end of the 19th Century the house found itself almost derelict before being saved and subsequently restored in the 1890’s by Alfred Car de Lafontaine.

Thomas Hardy, the famous the famous Dorset author, visited the house on a number of occasions and at the age of 19 painted a water-colour painting of the house, which interestingly he called Athelhall.

In 1957, Athelhampton was acquired by the Cooke family in 1957 and is still used today as a family home aswell as attracting many 1000’s of visitors.

Features

The Great Hall is an exceptional example of early tudor architecture with heraldic glass, linenfol panelling and its original carved roof timbers.

The house features an fabulous collection of English furniture from the Jacobean to late Victorian periods.

Marevna Exhibition - Marevna was a russian artist who painted in a cubist style, she lived at Athelhampton between 1948 and 1956, and a collection of her works is found in the west wing of the house.

Events

NCCPG Plant Sale - 6th May 2007

Flower Festival - 10th - 14th June 2007

MG owners club car rally - 12th August 2007

5 Churches Fete - 27th August 2007

Weddings and Receptions

The house, gardens and catering facilities at Athelhampton make it a unique and picturesque setting for your wedding and, or reception. Athelhampton holds a Civil Marriage Licence.

Website

For more information on Athelhampton you can visit their website: www.athelhampton.co.uk