Hollywood Fancy Dress

For one whole week the picturesque seaside town of Swanage will be transformed for the Swanage Regatta and Carnival! There will be something to do for all ages every day so make the most of it and head down from the 30th July to the 6th August! Swanage Regatta The sun is shining so why not try your hand at some sporting events? Prizes will be on offer for all age groups throughout the week, so show them what you’ve got! There will be plenty on offer including fun runs, tennis, sailing, darts and even fishing. Sadly there will be no half marathon this year due to safety concerns and road closures, Swanage Carnival This year’s carnival procession will have a ‘Sitcom’ theme so expect to see all of your favourite TV characters old and new! As always it will take place on the Sunday 31st July at 3pm and will begin at Rabling Road, coming full circle back to that point. The parade travels a huge 2 mile stretch so you are sure to find a spot to watch from. Continue reading →

The four year wait is finally over and the eyes of the whole World will be on Rio to deliver the most exciting Olympic Games yet! Tune in from the 5th to the 21st August to cheer on your country. Olympic Games As the name suggests, the first games were held in Olympia. It all began back in 776 BC in the time of the ancient Greeks, sports events were held in honour of the god Zeus. The games continued on for 12 centuries before being suspended in 392AD by Emperor Theodosius who banned anything he deemed a “pagan cult”. Almost exactly 1,500 years later in 1896 Greece reclaimed their history and began holding the Olympic Games once again in Athens. This was the beginning of the modern Olympics which has shaped the events we see today. Continue reading →

In light of recent events, it is important now more than ever to support your local businesses here in Britain. Holiday at home, buy from little independent shops and spend more time enjoying each other’s company! Holiday in Great Britain! We have so many gorgeous un-spoiled places to see right here on your doorstep that most of us have never heard of. Why cross the Channel to Paris if you haven’t explored the stunning architecture of Bath or Chester? Save the airfare of travelling to Australia and surf the beautiful beaches of Cornwall and Devon. With so many extravagant castles such as Arundel, St Michael’s Mount and of course, Windsor there is more to see than you can imagine! Celebrate your heritage while taking a much needed break in the Cotswolds or get a massive adrenaline rush in one of our many adventure theme parks. The possibilities are endless! Continue reading →

The UK’s best family festival is back for 2016 and this time it really will be out of this world! Camp Bestival is everything you could want from a festival rolled into one and held at a castle. Camp Bestival Is Back! Camp Bestival is the sister festival to Bestival held annually on the Isle of Wight. From the first event in 2008 it has won multiple awards including Best New Festival in its first year and Best Family Festival four times since! What more excuse could you need to treat the whole family? Get yourself down from Thursday 28th to 31st July for the best long weekend ever! Continue reading →

Americans will be waving their flags high and singing out their national anthem as American Independence Day is near! On Monday 4th July the USA will be alive with celebration of their most famous national holiday! This year will mark the 240th year. Why The 4th July? The 4th July is a holiday known worldwide and is a celebration of American independence. In 1776 the second continental congress met in secret to vote on the resolution of independence to separate them from the rule of Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was written up by Thomas Jefferson with the help of other members of the comity and signed on 4th July that year. Continue reading →

Bourne Free is Bournemouth’s very own LGBT pride event that takes place annually in the heart of the town for everyone to enjoy! This year the team have come up with the perfect theme, Rio Carnival! In light of the recent attacks in Orlando, we need to come together now more than ever to support our LGBT community and show tolerance, understanding and love for everyone. Stand together, stand strong and stand free! Bourne Free In 2004 Bourne Free was created when news spread that an organisation was coming to Bournemouth to preach that homosexuality is wrong. The gay community banded together to stand against them and celebrate their diversity and to hold Bournemouth’s first gay Pride march. Since then the event has flourished and grown into a huge three day party to bring everyone in the community together. Bourne Free is now a registered charity run by trustees and volunteers, as well as contributors from the LGBT community and local businesses. This year they will be supporting the Julia’s House charity. Continue reading →

Last year marked the 10th year of Winton Carnival and the bar was well and truly raised with a stunning turn out! 2016 has a lot to live up to, but we recon we can put on an even better show this year. Winton Carnival Winton Carnival has always been a non-profit event run by volunteers from the local community and we can certainly say that they have done us proud for the last 10 years. Over 7,000 people join in the fun at Winton carnival so make sure you’re one of them. Whether you sign up as a volunteer or marshal, enter a float in the parade or just come along and watch, make sure you do your bit for the community. Continue reading →

The festival of a lifetime is coming to a field near you this summer! From Wednesday 22nd- 26th June party like you’ve never partied before at Glastonbury Festival! Glastonbury Festival Every year the small Somerset town of Glastonbury with less than 9,000 residents springs to life with hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to enjoy all that the festival has to offer. Worthy Farm becomes a hive of activity with huge live bands and artists display the best the UK has to offer. Glastonbury Festival has come an awful long way from its humble beginning back in 1970 with an attendance of 1,500 people and £1 tickets (which included free milk from the farm). Nowadays there are thousands of acts, let alone attendees and it has become the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world! Continue reading →

On Saturday 18th June everyone will be flocking to watch Totton Carnival. It will be a day full of fun and laughter as the streets come to life! Totton Carnival It is a great day out for all the friends and family, a giant parade with an amazing fun fair waiting for you on the other side! It all sounds so exciting! Every year the theme changes and this year the theme is ‘Party on Down’ so you’re in for a treat! You will be joined by party animals, disco diva’s, punk rockers and so much more. The parade is made up from a whole range of different participants, such as floats, dancers, bikers and even the marching band who put on a jolly good show. It’s defiantly something you don’t want to miss. Every year the event is held by the Totton Carnival Committee to fundraise for local charities. This year’s benefactors will be Youth & Families Matter and Age UK New Forest. Two amazing Charities! Continue reading →

Dads. They are the heroes that don't wear capes (At least not all the time), but they are always watching out for you. This Father's Day, take a minute to appreciate all of those tough times that daddy got you through. The modern day father has a lot to contend with now that toddlers know how to use iPhones and everyone loves dressing up (Sorry!), but there are plenty who take this all in their stride! Dad's are a girls first love and a boys first hero so always remember to set good examples for them. Nowadays that includes dressing as princesses with them, so good luck with that! Continue reading →

Summer Ball is one of the biggest fancy dress events in Bournemouth and the very best on the student calendar. When it comes to what to wear, trust Hollywood Fancy Dress to sort you out with the best costumes and accessories on the coast! Summer Ball From Saturday 11th June to the early hours of Sunday 12th, the students of Bournemouth will be partying harder than they have ever partied before! Will you be joining them? If the answer is yes then you need to check out what we have in store for you for 2016! What To Wear? There have been a whole host of new lines release for 2016, so you can trust us to bring you the freshest fancy dress on the scene. Continue reading →

Arrrr! It’s that time of year again land lubbers! The Pirates of Poole are taking over the Quay for Harry Paye Day! The Pirates of Poole are a local community group who strive to keep the maritime history of Poole alive and they also hold events to raise money for local charities and causes. In 2006 they began an event to celebrate Poole’s most famous and notorious pirate of all and thus Harry Paye Day was born! The day was such a success that it became an annual celebration. Who Was Harry Paye? Harry Paye certainly made a name for himself in the 15th Century, so much so that you still hear the tales to this day. Both Paye and his ship, the Mary , appear in the Kings records as being a transport to Spain, but the Spaniards marked him as a thief. He is said to have stolen the gold cross from the Church of Finisterre... We wouldn’t put it past him! Paye became notorious for burning the Spanish city of Gijion, home of his lover Countess Isabel. All of his terrible escapades drove the Spanish to seek revenge on the dreaded Arripaye! In 1405 passing Spanish and French Galleys discovered that Poole was the home of their nemesis and unleashed a deadly fighting force upon the town. When Harry Paye got wind of destruction to his home and that his brother fell in the horrific battle, he took action! He gathered a fleet of ships and captured French and Spanish cargo vessels, seizing copious amounts of booty, including rather of lot of high quality wine. Paye took the cargo back to Poole and shared it with the town’s people in hope that it would ease the suffering that he bought to them. According to the stories they feasted and drank for days after. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_3916" align="aligncenter" width="409"] THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: L-R: Laverne Cox and Ben Vareen.[/caption] Unless you’ve been living in a cave your whole life, you will have seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show or at the very least know some of the musical numbers! Well this October we will be seeing a whole new imagining of the cult classic movie featuring some of our old favourites! The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975-2016 The 2 hour television show will be celebrating Rocky Horror’s 40 years of theatrical distribution, which is longer than any film in history! It’s such a popular movie that it still shows in cinemas today and there have been countless stage shows across the world. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was everything you could have asked for in a film. It had mystery, scares, glitz and the catchiest songs in the history of cinema, what’s not to love?! At the heart of it all was actor and legend Tim Curry who owned the role of sexually ambiguous Dr Frank N Furter. He delivered his lines like he was born for the role and the energy was infectious. Continue reading →

This year’s Isle of Wight festival will be the biggest one yet with music giants The Who headlining! So pack your bags and escape across the water to an island of dreams for a long weekend you’ll never forget! Isle of Wight Festival Since 1968 the Isle of Wight Festival has been a huge hit and was originally regarded as the European equivalent of Woodstock. The headline acts have always been major player in the music industry from Jimi Hendrix to the Sex pistols. Of course, this won’t be the first and probably not the last time that The Who will play this festival and we can’t wait to be transported back to the 70’s! Continue reading →

Summer is finally here and that means it’s time for Bournemouth Wheels Festival! Watch our small seaside town come to life with classic cars, stunt riders and monster trucks! There really will be something for everyone so gather your friends and family and join us for the ride. Bournemouth Wheels Festival For the third year running Wheels will be rolling up to the seafront for a huge weekend of entertainment to kick the summer off the right way. From Friday 3rd June to Sunday 5th you will not only get to see dream cars, awesome army vehicles and massive monster trucks, you get to do it all for free! After last year’s success Wheels will also be coming to Southbourne once again on Saturday 4th June. Continue reading →

Now everybody knows the classic arcade game of Tetris. It was a huge hit in the 80’s thanks to Gameboy. Well now they are turning it into a silver screen movie!... No, we’re not quite sure why either! Tetris Movie Initially announced last year, the project has now amassed an $80 million budget! It will be a China-U.S co-produced movie...

For those about to rock, don’t forget to buy your tickets to Download 2016! This year will be another mammoth event that you will not want to miss. Download Festival Donnington Park has been the spiritual home of rock for over 25 years with festivals like Monsters of Rock and Ozzfest taking place on the grounds. In 2003 Download was born as a 2 day, 2 stage event on the grounds that had already been graced by so many legends. Huge names like Iron maiden, Marilyn Manson and Disturbed set the mark for festivals to come. Over the years, Download has become bigger and better with more stages and an ever longer weekend to pack it all into! This June, grab your mates, pack up a tent and get down to Donnington Park. Continue reading →

People across the UK will be donning the biggest, brightest and silliest wigs they can find to help raise funds for CLIC Sargent on Wednesday 25th May for Wig Wednesday! So get your friends together, buy yourself a wig and get involved! Wig Wednesday Now in its 6th year, Wig Wednesday was born in 2011 from the idea of a CLIC Sargent supporter. Inspired by a family member he decided to wear a wig for the day and collect vital funds for the charity. It was a fun new way to get people involved and caught on right away! And it’s not just the local community pitching in; they have even had support from famous faces such as Natalie Cassidy and Roberts Glenister! Continue reading →

SUBU Summer Ball is the student fancy dress event of the year, so make sure you dress to impress! With a helping hand from the good people of Hollywood Fancy Dress, you will find the perfect outfit for you! SUBU Summer Ball From Saturday afternoon on 11th June to the wee hours of Sunday 12th, the students of Bournemouth will be enjoying the biggest event on the uni calendar. With a huge festival at Chapel Gate and an after party at The Old Fire Station, you’re going to need all your strength to make it to the end! But if you do, you will receive the ultimate glory of the survivor’s photo at pier approach as the sun comes up over Bournemouth beach. Continue reading →

The Pink Army unite for another fantastic Race For Life event! Women all across the UK will be slipping into their pinkest attire to raise money and awareness for Cancer Research, will you be joining them? Race For Life Bournemouth Race For Life events kick off from Sunday 12th June and continue across the South throughout the summer. To find your nearest event just click the link! There will be 2 events to choose from in Bournemouth this year with the 5k and 10k race. They will both take place at the pier approach on Bournemouth seafront and start from 11am. Continue reading →