Folkestone Harbour Arm announces opening date ahead of 2022 season at expanded venue
Published: 11:00, 24 March 2022
Updated: 11:01, 24 March 2022
One of the south east's best-loved food, drink and events destinations will reopen fully for the start of the 2022 season on April 1.
Bosses at the Harbour Arm in Folkestone have spent the winter investing in the harbourside venue and have unveiled a series of improvements for the coming summer.
The Goods Yard, which is home to the Harbour Screen, has seen its capacity increased and this summer it will host sports and cinema screening which will be free to attend for the first time.
Planning permission has also been granted for a new miniature golf course alongside the Little Rock restaurant and Pilot beach bar, while new restaurants with a view of the Channel and famous White Cliffs will open in a complex of shipping containers.
Further down the Harbour Arm, where there are indoor bars and restaurants, a new ice cream and dessert parlour will open for the first time.
A spokesman for the Harbour Arm said: "2022 is set to be one of our most important years yet, with more investment proposed than any other time since our reopening of the site to the public in 2015.
"2021 cemented The Goods Yard as the fastest growing, most dynamic events space on the south east coast. In 2022, we've recognised this and have acted on it.
"Seating capacity has been nearly doubled, all traders have had their units upgraded or expanded and we've introduced three brand new traders that we cannot wait to introduce you to."
The Harbour Arm will host a full opening weekend, starting on April 1, for the first time since the start of the pandemic - with all businesses trading seven days a week until the end of the Easter holidays on April 18.
Since opening in 2015 following a £3.5 million refurbishment, the Arm has become a centre-piece of the regeneration of the town's harbour area.
It has become well know for hosting live screenings of major sporting events, such as England international football games, and a number of the traders who have started with pop-ups have gone on to establish permanent restaurants in the town.
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Rhys Griffiths