Thousands people descended on a popular seaside festival as it celebrated its 20th year of family-oriented fun.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Crowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike WebberCrowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike Webber (Image: Archant)

The Gorleston Clifftop Festival, on Gorleston Cliffs, was first organised in 1998, and was started to give a platform to charities from across the area to come and raise money for good causes.

The festival is run by volunteers and is estimated to have cost around £28,000 to put on this year, with local businesses such as Tingdene, Arthur Jary and Sons, and the board of the Greater Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area sponsoring the event.

Tens of thousands of people attended the event on Saturday despite strong winds, with a reduced attendance due to rain on Sunday.

This year’s festival activities and events included more than forty hours of live music, a fun fair, a children’s arena, a dog show, and a grand firework display to round off the festival on Sunday night.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Crowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike WebberCrowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike Webber (Image: Archant)

In addition, there were arenas for local stalls, charity stalls, an agility display, a comedy tent, and a new tea tent run by the committee to raise funds to put back into the festival in future years.

Organiser Mike Webber said: “It has been very successful. We had a few incidents with the wind and marquees getting blown away but Saturday was a great success.

“There was a good atmosphere at the dog show, all the bands went very well too. The Star Wars club have been up and they have had some good interaction with people taking photos.”

He added: “To have been going for 20 years is amazing and people often ask why do we do it as I am up at 7am on Saturday and not back home until past midnight.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Crowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike WebberCrowds flocked to Gorleston's annual Clifftop Festival. Picture: Mike Webber (Image: Archant)

“But on Sunday night, when the fireworks go off, my wife and I go down to the beach looking up at the cliffs and you get quite emotional.

“You get such a great buzz from doing this and if I did not get that I would not do it.

“Everyone who gets involved and everyone who does it for the first time says it is so fulfilling.”