A full event programme for our Family Fun Weekend will be available here soon, but in the meantime you can see details of the various events by clicking on the links in the bar above. Rest assured that it will include everyone's favourite events, including the
Great Bembridge Paper Boat Race,
Crabbing Competition,
Fancy Dress and the
Harbour Party on Saturday 1st August.
Our Event Theme this yeasr is: What’s Your Favourite Read?
And we mean, anything … whatever you read and however you read it, our Family Fun Weekend is celebrating the National Year of Reading 2026!!
Whether it’s a comic, your favourite recipe, sci-fi, sports results, music or lyrics, a poem you like, weather reports, Facebook posts, maps, newspapers, instruction manuals, crosswords or puzzles, a card or a letter from a friend, bedtime stories, a book character that you love or that inspires you - reading is part of all our lives every day!
We hope you will let your imagination create something wonderful …
If yhou haven't been to our Family Fun Weekend before, checkout the 2025
Event Gallery to get a flavour of the event: - View Here
Enormous thanks to everyone who supported our 2025 Family Fun Weekend!! On Friday afternoon we built a record breaking 56 amazing paper boats for Saturday’s Great Bembridge Paper Boat Race organised and hosted by Brading Haven Yacht Club, which saw 68 boats take to the water over 4 races (7 and under, 8 and 9 year olds, 10 and over and Adults). The weather was perfect, competition was tough, the spectators went wild, and glory, honour and prizes were won!
Earlier on on Saturday it was grey and wet, but spirits were high on Bembridge Beach for egg and spoon, sack, 3-legged and running races, with the traditional wet and noisy Family Bucket Relay saved until last. Meanwhile, 8 Sandcastles (major building projects) and 9 beautiful Sand Sculptures were created, with impressive attention to intricate detail, well deserving of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed prizes awarded to both. Bembridge Sailing Club kindly provided tea, coffee and cake, the Commodore bravely taking on the task of judging, and a small band of Club members making sure the games all ran smoothly. Many thanks to all!
On Saturday afternoon the Commodore of each Club judged the Best Decorated Boat Competition, for which prizes were awarded at the Harbour Party in the evening together with a Fancy Dress Competition – the Event Theme was “Is that the time?!” with entries including a 2-boat Alice in Wonderland extravaganza, Hickory Dickory Dock, Rainbow Time, a Steam Punk Observatory (as in Greenwich) and with a football slant - Half-Time and It’s Coming Home Time!
Sunday’s Crabbing Competition was preceded by the Harbour Staff Wake Up Walk along the Duver pontoon to make sure everyone was ready for action – accompanied this year by the lovely Jo on the saxophone! Then, on the starting hooter, a total of 434 crabs were caught, counted, and then carefully returned into the harbour. We all had great fun and hope you did too!! And in the process, you helped us to raise £2,312.25 for our nominated Island charity, The Sophie Rolf Trust - a fantastic amount and we, and they, are so, so grateful - thank you