Folkestone Harbour Arm regeneration and restoration is a massive success story. It’s still in its early development but is becoming a really great family destination, full of pop up bars, eateries and live music and events (http://folkestoneharbourarm.co.uk/outlets)

We have ventured down to Folkestone  a few times now since moving back, but mainly just to the harbour and nearby Sunny Sands beach and the Creative Quarter – a selection of independent shops in the Old Town which are well worth a potter.

However last Friday night the Mr and I visited the Harbour Arm proper and were really impressed by what we found.

We wandered down on a sultry evening and enjoyed dusk at the harbour, then ventured onto the Harbour Arm itself. Not everything was open but there was a brilliant atmosphere as we meandered past various shacks, caravans and a double decker bus which when open offer a large selection of street food from Dutch pancakes to Greek tapas. 

There was a dj playing from a large seagull (I kid you not) and rickshaw rides were available for those too tired or inebriated to make the fair walk back to town (luckily we parked in the nearby harbour arm car park!)

At the far end of the arm is the Lighthouse which is now a champagne bar and live music venue and offers incredible views of the cliffs and out to sea.
We stopped for a bite to eat at “That Burger” (does what it says on the tin, with a large smile and a side of cajun fries – yum!)

We were so enamoured and I had spotted that they offered workshops as part of their Pop in and Play sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays throughout the summer that we decided to pop back on a Tuesday to see what was going on.

The children took part in an amazing African drumming workshop with local musician Kevin Richards who was enthusiastic and great fun! Other workshops have included rugby, tennis (those ball boys and girls would have their work cut out rescuing balls from the channel…), screen printing, story telling, comic strips, crafts and much more.

We walked down to the Lighthouse and climbed the steps to see the breathtaking views! 

After all that we had built up an appetite so decided to stop at Follies which serves incredible pizza (with a buy one get one free offer on kids margaritas). We really enjoyed it. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food delicious and reasonably priced. 

We had planned to stop for churros on the way back but the shack serving them wasn’t open so we went off in search of ice cream instead.

The whole atmosphere was like being on holiday (the weather helped!) and I’d really recommend a visit to the Harbour Arm for a night out or lunch. Do check the website though as opening times do change especially off season and are weather dependent!