Visit Great Yarmouth Festival of Bowls kick starts the Bank Holiday weekend

This year's festival, the 77^th edition, promises to be the biggest and most exciting yet, with competitors of all skill levels, from amateurs to seasoned professionals. Bowlers have the opportunity to showcase their talent and compete against some of the finest players in the sport, all while enjoying the camaraderie and community spirit the festival is renowned for.

Tournaments taking place include men's, ladies and mixed teams competing for singles, pairs, triples and fours titles. Each winner receives a trophy as do some runners up. Winners and runners up also receive prize money.

To ensure no one misses out on one of the most-anticipated events in the world of bowls, enthusiast Paul Nicholls will be live streaming some of the matches on his Youtube channel. Details of which matches will be streamed will be available on the Festival's Facebook page.

The bowls festival, which runs until Saturday, September 21, is only able to go ahead thanks to generous funding and support from Visit Great Yarmouth along with sponsorship from Wentworth Holidays, Mal Dixon, Collier Turf Care Ltd, The Priory 1101, Global Signs and Engraving, The Prom Hotel, Jack and Bowl, Town and Country Counselling and Thompsons Food Service Ltd.

Ruth Cockrill, Great Yarmouth Borough Council's marketing and events officer, said: ''We are looking forward to another excellent Visit Great Yarmouth Festival of Bowls. It is a key fixture in the sport's annual calendar and we look forward to seeing all the competitors this year for what we know will be an entertaining and keenly contested programme.

''I'd like to thank all our sponsors and supporters - as well as the competitors - for helping to make sure this fantastic event can take place.''

Tournament information:

Ladies Singles
Sunday, August 25 - Tuesday, August 27

Men's Fours
Sunday, August 25 - Tuesday, August 27

Men's Pairs
Wednesday, August 28 - Friday, August 30

Men's Triples
Sunday, September 1 - Tuesday, September 3

Ladies Pairs
Sunday, September 1 - Tuesday, September 3

Men's Singles
Wednesday, September 4 - Friday, September 6

Ladies Triples
Thursday, September 5 - Friday, September 6

Under 12s Open Singles
Saturday, September 7

Mixed Pairs
Sunday, September 8 - Tuesday, September 10

Mixed Triples
Wednesday, September 11 and Friday, September 13

Over 60s Open Singles
Saturday, September 14 - Tuesday, September 17

Over 60s Open Pairs
Wednesday, September 18 - Saturday, September 21