THE DORSET Knob Throwing Festival will return this year to Dorchester after the event took a year off in 2018.

This popular celebration will be held at Kingston Maurward College and is supported by Moores, creators of the famous Dorset Knob biscuit.

A staple of the Dorset event calendar, this world-renowned festival brings thousands of visitors to the county.

Last year would have been the eleventh iteration of the event, but the relationship between Moores and the festival committee broke down and organisers decided to spend the last year building bridges with the biscuit manufacturer instead.

Now returning after that brief hiatus, the 2019 event promises to be the biggest one yet, with plenty of knob-themed attractions and games to go alongside the traditional knob throwing.

There will be knob eating, knob painting, a knob and spoon race, guess the weight of the big knob, knob darts and a knob pyramid.

The Frome Valley Food Festival will run alongside these festivities. There will be an opportunity to sample, taste and purchase a fine range of foods including bread, cheese, cider, meat, game, poultry, pies, preserves, and puddings in addition to chocolate, coffee and wine supplied by well-respected local businesses.

Event Chair, Ian Gregory, said: “This is a fun, zany and quintessentially English event which is always enormously good fun. This year the original Cattistock Knobbers are again teamed up with Kingston Maurward and we have introduced a new Charity Partner to benefit from the event. This year our chosen charity is Weldmar Hospice which is celebrating its 25th year. It’s great to have them onboard.”

Principal of Kingston Maurward College, Luke Rake, said: “We are really pleased to be welcoming the Dorset Knob Throwing Festival back to Kingston Maurward. To be able to support the villages of Cattistock, Maiden Newton and surrounding rural areas is a real privilege and part of our rural community mission."

Entry is £5 per adult with free entry for children under 14. Car parking is free and a free shuttle bus service will run from Brewery Square, Dorchester on the day.

The festival will run from 10am until 4pm on Sunday, May 5. For more information go to www.dorsetknobthrowing.com