Kent's Big Weekend - registration open ahead of February 21 ballot

Take the kids to one of Kent's top attractions for free in April.

Kent's Big Weekend is this year taking place at the start of the Easter holidays on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

More than 130 attractions will be opening their doors for free and giving families the chance to claim a pair of tickets to visit.

Registration to be in with a chance of winning your tickets is now open. The ballot will take place on Thursday, February 21.

Some of the county’s attractions which have signed up for this year’s event include Leeds Castle, Dover Castle and Hever Castle, Ightham Mote, the Historic Dockyard Chatham, Diggerland in Strood, Eagle Heights and Wildwood Trust at Herne Bay.

Experiences on offer include animal encounters, brewery and vineyard tours and tastings, family activities, relaxing afternoon teas, river tours and shopping experiences.

Outside of London, Kent is the third most popular visitor destination in the UK with more than 65 million domestic and international tourists a year.

Visit Kent chief executive, Deirdre Wells OBE, said: "Tourism is an incredibly important part of Kent’s economy and whilst we strive to attract new visitors to our county from London, the rest of the UK and abroad, we must never forget that our own residents are our greatest ambassadors who support our industry week in, week out.

"This is essentially why we created the Kent Big Weekend 13 years ago – to give residents a free day out to say thank you, and to create positivity and enthusiasm for their wonderful home county."

To register now and see the full list of attractions taking part, visit kentbigweekend.co.uk