Twenty-one Thanet attractions will be taking part in the Kent Big Weekend – and the ballot for free tickets is open now.
There are more than 1,000 tickets to isle attractions on offer as part of the annual weekend event, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25. The tickets are available via public ballot which opened today (8 February).
The Kent Big Weekend is organised by Visit Kent and takes place annually during English Tourism Week. The weekend is a great opportunity for Kent residents to discover and experience the many wonderful attractions the county has to offer for free.
Thanet District Council’s tourism team has been busy encouraging local attractions to participate, to ensure a great presence and exposure for Thanet during the weekend.
New participants this year include escape rooms Real Life Games, Heli Charter, Ramsgate Blitz Walk, Ramsgate International Film and TV Festival and the Walpole Bay Hotel, whose owners are offering an afternoon cream tea.
Councillor Hunter Stummer-Schmertzing, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise Services said: “I am pleased to see so many Thanet attractions participating this year. It is a great opportunity for local residents to get out and about, discovering the amazing and diverse attractions on their doorstep. They can then tell their visiting friends and relatives about them, which is a big market for the area. The Kent Big Weekend also helps to raise the profile of Thanet and our attraction offering across Kent.”
Crampton Tower Museum in Broadstairs is the only Thanet venue to have participated every year since the initiative began.
Peter Shaw, Chair of the Crampton Tower Museum Trust (CTMT) said: “When Visit Kent introduced The Kent Big Weekend concept we were pleased to embrace the initiative, which significantly raised our local profile. CTMT is more than happy to continue supporting them and Thanet District Council’s tourism team in this very worthwhile exercise.”
The public ballot for tickets closes on Sunday, March 11. Two tickets per household will be allocated by ballot to the lucky winners, although some family tickets will be available as well. Successful entrants will be notified on Monday, March 12.
Find out more about the Thanet venues taking part in the Kent Big Weekend and their offering at www.visitthanet.co.uk/kentbigweekend.
To register for free tickets for isle and Kent attractions, go to www.kentbigweekend.co.uk
Thanet venues
Crampton Tower Museum, Broadstairs
Dickens House Museum, Broadstairs
Drapers Windmill, Margate
Dreamland, Margate (tickets will be valid for 31 March and 1 April)
Gadds’ Ramsgate Brewery, Broadstairs
Heli Charter, Manston
Hornby Visitor Centre, Margate
Jungle Jim’s, Quex Park, Birchington
Margate Museum
Monkton Nature Reserve
Paintballing at Quex, Quex Park, Birchington
Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex Park, Birchington
Pugin’s Church and the Shrine of St Augustine, Ramsgate
RAF Manston History Museum
Ramsgate Blitz Walks
Ramsgate International Film and TV Festival
Ramsgate Tunnels
Real Life Games, Ramsgate
Shell Grotto, Margate
Tudor House, Margate
Walpole Bay Hotel, Margate