Folkestone Harbour’s First Summer Party

Folkestone Harbour has spent 2025 celebrating its 10 year anniversary.  In the summer of 2015, a handful of food traders opened at weekends to serve the town and visitors with delicious food.  Over the years, the seasons have grown longer, the food and entertainment offerings grown bigger, and now it’s one of Kent’s major tourist destinations.  The first Summer Party is upon us, which implies there are more parties to come.  Expect lots of live music, fantastic food, family films, and fireworks that can be seen from Dover. Folkelife spoke to members of the Harbour Team responsible for putting on such a show.

John Winch and the Harbour ops team

John Winch, Senior Harbour Operative, is part of the team that make sure Folkestone Harbour is a clean and safe place to visit. John started as a Duty Manager in 2023, working weekends and event days. Now, he is part of the Operations Team looking after the waste management, toilets, cleanliness and ‘nitty gritty’.

“Folkestone Harbour has always appealed to me as being a really fun place. It’s at the forefront of Folkestone being an exciting destination.  When I started here in 2023, I worked with Hazel Hughes as a Duty Manager.  That’s a job where you open up, make sure the traders all have what they need – electricity and so on!  It’s a varied job, and great fun, and a lot of dealing with the public.  The unusual elements of the job happen when you need to call on your first aid skills.  We have great training on that now, but it’s scary when you have to put it into action.”

hands on folkestone harbour

“I got to know how the site works, who is here and what goes on here, and then this job came up.  I’m Senior Harbour Operative which means there’s a team of us who work around the site making sure it’s safe, clean and working.  This suits me better for my skillset, but it’s still not a ‘normal’ job.  For example, this morning I have spent my time getting pigeons out from behind the screen.  They would like to nest there but that would cause all sorts of issues!”

building tables, cleaning loos

“We’ve just finished making new tables for the Arm.  The Ops team is made up of 8 people on a rolling rota, so everyone gets a go at doing all sorts of things.  There are times though, when the site is really busy, and there are thousands of people here, that you have to be on your toes.  The bins and toilets can be overflowing, and it’s our job to make sure that is all clean and tidy.  I can have four phones on me at once and when they ring together you do have to have your wits about you.  

“I like the fact that I’ve done both the Duty Manager and this role because I know how the system works.  The team here works really well though as we’re aware of what needs to be done, and everyone just comes into their own and makes it happen.”

Fireworks

In May 2025, the Harbour Team put on a week of events to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Folkestone Harbour being an entertainment destination.  This culminated in a fantastic fireworks display.  Alex Harrison, Operations Manager and Steve Walsh, Deputy General Manager were in the thick of things.

Steve: “I was standing right underneath the Lighthouse for the fireworks display in June and it was totally nuts.  It seemed like I was in a war zone, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Alex Harrison has just joined the team as Steve’s 2nd in command. “Working at Folkestone Harbour is being part of this community hub.  It’s a key visitor attraction and you get that sense of being plugged into something that feels quite important for the town. There’s so much going on here, and you get to work with some really talented people, and be a part of some amazing events. 

“The last fireworks in June were spectacular. It was quite something to just stand there and watch this sort of incredible display unfold on your turf and feel very proud of of being part of it.”

evolution of the site

General Manager Paulo Kingston-Correia has been at Folkestone Harbour since 2021 and understands his commitment to the site.

“It’s my duty to every trader we have to invest in them and the site, and to think of every visitor, to show that we will always be providing something new and exciting. People love Folkestone Harbour because there’s always a new event or food trader or something happening, that has to continue. If I stop now, then where’s my responsibility to the traders who have decided to build their businesses here? 

“The whole Harbour team works hard with our traders to make sure they can deliver the service they want to.  We take risks, and a lot of them pay off, but most importantly, our ethos here is to support and incubate new business and to make sure they can grow. 

“It is an evolution; if you look back five years ago, everyone loved the site but it was different to how it is now.  And five years on from now it will have evolved too, but it’s important that we evolve in a way that’s still providing visitors with the experience and vibe they’ve come to love at Folkestone Harbour.  And that’s what we work, daily, to provide.”

from gazebo to elephant wagon

“We invest in the people who want to make their businesses work here.  For example, Alison Abbott started off with a gazebo in the first year here, with Go Dutch.  She then moved to a hut, to a wagon, to three wagons and now she has the Elephant Van – one of only 10 ever built in the UK, with her business Shesells Seashells.  We always work with a trader to build the venue they can grow into.  It’s a collaboration.  Our traders are investing in the site as much as we are investing in them.   

“Simon and Jess’s idea to open a champagne bar in our lighthouse was inspired.  And to be able to give them the space to offer food, which is what they wanted to do, with The Tasting Rooms has really worked.  They have their own venue to curate now, with music, food and a wonderful vibe. It’s a great success.

“Mark Babins started off with Sole Kitchen, essentially fish and chips, but stretched his opening times to include breakfast and later on into the evenings.  With Harbour Coffee, he was the first trader to open 7 days a week.  He’s built a reliable offering, and so it’s been worth it working with him on Sailbox. People here on site and in town said that he was crazy to take on such a size restaurant, but again he’s given us a fantastic offering and we’re having to expand on the space again because he’s so popular.”

nurturing talent

“Equally though, we’ve got new traders who have done really well.  Brad from Queso Hombre has been here a year and done a brilliant job with his first venture.  He and his partner Perri wanted an all-year-round option too, and so we went to them when the Signal Box became available and now we have SIP at the Signal Box.  

“It’s not just the traders that are nurtured.  We help develop the people on our team too.  When I joined there were 10 employees.  Now the team has over doubled in size with 25 employees.”

new economic purpose

“Our strapline here is to ‘Reinvent the English Seaside Experience’, and that means more than the experience you have here as a visitor to Folkestone Harbour.  It’s about reinventing the economic purpose of a site that was never financially viable as a working port. 

“When the last ferry companies left, and the site was bought by Sir Roger De Haan in 2004, he worked hard to get passenger services running from Folkestone to Boulogne, and did manage to get a freight service running briefly.  But this isn’t viable when situated so close to Dover, and with the Channel Tunnel up on the hill. 

“Folkestone Harbour has to be revised, and still be a place that is an important employer for local people.  When the last ferry operators owned the site, they employed 300 people here.  Now, with our Harbour staff, operations and facilities teams, traders with their staff, and artisans in the Marketplace, we’re close to 300 people gaining employment here at Folkestone Harbour. “

Supporting folkestone

“There’s a lot going on in Folkestone to re-energise its economic state and make it a good place for people to live.  The Council has the Place Plan which is working to make the route from the train station into the town inviting. 

“You can see independent businesses opening on Tontine Street, The Old High Street, Guildhall Street, Rendezvous Street – this area is growing, and that helps Folkestone so much.  And then there’s what’s happening here at the Harbour, we’re a part of this growth. 

“Our work here does give others the confidence to launch and grow their businesses in other parts of the town. Our work also brings visitors to Folkestone, and whether they come by car or public transport, they visit other parts of the town than just the Harbour.

“We’re also part of making Folkestone a great place to live.  Where else can you get free cinema every Friday from May to September?  And then again, there’s our Christmas schedule from mid-November through to New Year.  And free live music every weekend…”

our lighthouse is a beacon

“It’s our 10 Year Anniversary this year, and our logo incorporates the iconic Lighthouse at the end of the Pier.  The Lighthouse has brought people to Folkestone for years, it’s what brought me.  I live in Ashford (for which I am sorry) and what’s been happening at the Harbour is what brings me to Folkestone, and to work here too.

“It’s a form of flattery to see that other seaside towns are now looking at what we’ve done and recreating their own versions. The music programme we put on is huge, and you can see that happening in other towns.  But I think what we have here in Folkestone is not being driven by just one person.  It’s a collaborative effort of the Council, private investment and businesses having the confidence to be here too.  And that’s what makes Folkestone feel unique.  And all of us will continue to make sure that Folkestone is an exciting place to be.”